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Perhaps it’s not entirely the case.
Look, I’m not looking to be dismissive of another reporter’s sources.
And this reporter has had good sources over the years.
But that story I wrote about yesterday, I’m just wondering a little about its veracity. Just a little bit. Once again, I don’t want to be totally dismissive of this reporter’s story, because I don’t know who is “source” or “sources” are.
“The game plan: It’s simple: Get Cousins,” wrote ESPN’s Rich Cimini on Monday. “The Jets want him badly, and sources say they’re willing to pay whatever it takes — unless the Washington Redskins decide to tag him for a third time (unlikely).”
What kind of way is that to negotiate. Would you walk into a car dealer and say, “I’m willing to pay whatever it takes?”
Perhaps there are very rich people who do that, but they probably aren’t working under the parameters of a salary cap. In the NFL, the wealth of an owner doesn’t transcend the salary cap, which is the same for every team.
Snooping around a little today about this premise that the Jets “are willing to pay whatever it takes” to get Cousins, I got the sense that isn’t entirely the case.
I can’t quote anybody, but I just got the sense there is no way a high-ranking Jets official ever said such a thing. In fairness, the writers didn’t say it was a “high-ranking Jets official.”
I think this is more about a perception around the league that the Jets have a lot of cap space and won’t be denied. So my sense this is more a perception from sources than an actual Jets strategy.
Also, remember what Christopher Johnson said after the season about free agent spending.
He was asked, “Are you willing to ‘mortgage the future’ and pay one player to be the team’s centerpiece?”
“This is how I characterize it,” Johnson said. “We’re never going to mortgage our future. We’re trying to build a team that can compete into the future. We’d never go all-in on something that would only last us a year or two. We’ll be active in free agency but it’s only going to be adding pieces that can be with us for a good long time. I think we’re in a really good position to do that. I think Mike, Todd and I are in agreement on all that.”
This is an interesting quote when you apply this to Cousins. Because if the Jets signed him, it wouldn’t be just for a “year or two.”
He also said, “it’s only going to be adding pieces that can be with us for a good long time.”
If they sign Cousins, he could be with the Jets “a good long time.”
So I guess that quote would give the owner wiggle room to make deal with Cousins.
But he did go on to say, “We’ll do things in a measured, I keep using active, way. Will we spend to the limit trying to win this year and throw it all in there? The idea is to win year after year, to be like one of those great franchises that seem to go from year-to-year to-year and they are there for a decade. We want to be in that conversation. I don’t think you do that by over-spending on a couple of free agents that will only last you a moment in that longer-range outlook.”
Do you think signing a player for $30 million-a-year is doing things in a “measured” fashion?
Not really, especially if you agree with Scot McCloughan that Cousins isn’t “special.”
In a story that followed up Cimini’s story, Brian Costello wrote, “League sources believe the Jets are going to be particularly aggressive in their pursuit, willing to spend big bucks in the hope the soon-to-be former Redskin can be the franchise quarterback they have been searching for all these years.”
Costello did temper things a little bit compared to his counterpart, saying they are willing to spend “big bucks,” on Cousins, but didn’t go as far as saying “whatever it takes.”
My verdict on this is the Jets are willing to spend “big bucks” on Cousins, but not “whatever it takes” to the level of absurdity.
February 20, 2018
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