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Go for it, but don’t go crazy . . .
Manish Mehta made an announcement today about a free agent cornerback.
“Breaking: Jets believe that they will sign former Patriots and Titans defensive back Logan Ryan to a one-year deal, per sources. Smart move by Joe Douglas.”
The good thing for a reporter covering the Jets, is when Mehta reports something like this, beat writers can often get the team to give them background on his reports.
Usually with teams, if a reporter has a scoop about a potential move, they’re not going to respond very often, because these kind of rumors are commonplace, and they don’t want to respond to every tweet for the NFL insiders, who are often surrogates for the agents.
But the team is at war with Mehta. There is no doubt about it. He has been a thorn in their side for a number of years, with myriad reports, with a cornucopia of sources, that often don’t portray the Jets in the best light. The Jets finally seem to be taking off the gloves with him and are fighting back in subtle ways. I’m not taking any sides in this battle, just telling you what is going on.
So you are seeing more pushback on his reports now. For instance, when he reported recently that the team is shopping safety Marcus Maye, somebody, an unnamed league source, likely from the team, told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the report was “fake news.”
So after Mehta reported the Ryan news, you saw other beat writers tweeting things like, “From what I understand, no formal offers have been made, but the two sides are engaged in discussions.”
And, “Jets have had discussions with Logan Ryan’s reps, but no formal offer made, per sources.”
So they threw a little cold water on the report. This doesn’t mean they won’t sign him, but clearly it’s not a slam dunk yet.
Mehta’s story was a click-bait sensation all over the intent with headlines like this one from USA Today: “NFL News: New York Jets expected to sign Logan Ryan.”
Mission accomplished. These days, it’s all about the clicks.
Ryan is a solid, experienced player with good character, but he’s not particularly fast. He ran a 4.56 forty coming out of Rutgers in 2013, so now, entering his eighth season, do you think he’s faster? And let’s not forget he suffered a broken left fibula in 2018, so that certainly didn’t help.
So once again, as we said about Trumaine Johnson over and over, if you bring in a corner, who doesn’t run that great, and you have a pedestrian pass rush, that is a recipe for problems, because they have to hold up too long.
Maybe the Jets’ pass rush will improve this year, but who is going to be that difference-maker, Jabari Zuniga? Maybe. We will see.
But the bottom line about Ryan is that the Jets should probably sign him, but not break the bank, due to the wear-and-tear of seven years in the league, and his limited speed. Remember, before spending the last three years in Tennessee, he played four years in New England. And in New England, four years, is usually more wear-and-tear than a typical four year-stint with other teams, due to all the post-season games. Ryan won two Super Bowl rings in New England, and all that extra post-season football added extra wear-and-tear.
May 12, 2020
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