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What do you expect them to say?
Headline – “Zach Wilson’s new teammates praise new quarterback.”
Headline – “Jets’ free agent signings excited to play with Zach Wilson.”
What are players going to say?
“I signed here for the money – I have to idea if the quarterback is going to work out. It’s too early.”
Actually, that would be the most honest answer, but nobody ever says stuff like that.
When you ask a free agent addition about the team’s young QB, they are going to praise him. Show me one example of somebody, anywhere, not doing that?
Now, I’m not picking on the stories and the writers. The free agents were asked about Wilson, and said what they said, and you write about it. I get it.
Tight end Tyler Conklin signed with the Jets after spending the last four years in Minnesota.
“One of the big things I wanted was to be with a young quarterback,” Conklin said. “Especially him, with his arm talent and mobility, just all the things I’ve heard about him from players and coaches about how he approaches the game. It just seemed like a perfect fit.”
Perfect fit? Actually staying in Minnesota was the perfect fit for him. He had a career-high 61 catches last year. His QB, Kirk Cousins, had 33 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. He’s now on a team that had 9 TDs and 11 interceptions last year.
Which was the perfect situation for Conklin? Staying in Minnesota, but they have major cap problems, and the Jets gave him a nice contract. Conklin really didn’t want to leave Minnesota, but it was a chance for him to make good money, after playing his first four years on a fifth-round contract. Who can blame him?
“I am still beyond sad about leaving Minnesota,” Conklin wrote on social media. “It has become my home and helped me grow from a boy to a man. It’s impossible for me to put into words how I feel about my 4 years here. I guess I just want everyone to know how much my family and I love it here! How much we love not just the state and everything it has to offer but the people of this state.”
He did add: “Excitement I have for this next journey,” but he clearly didn’t want to leave Minnesota.
But sometimes you have to in a cap sport.
Another tight end addition, C.J. Uzomah, said, “He’s a great talent, man. He was a rookie last year, he’s going to make huge strides this year and I’m hoping I can be a crutch for him if he needs anything, Hopefully I can be a security blanket for him on the field as well. I think he’s an incredible talent and he’s just going to grow.”
That quote was somewhat objective while praising his talent, he did say, “He’s going to grow.”
But Ozomah was playing with Joe Burrow, who is coming off a season where he threw 34 TDs and 14 picks and completing 70.4 percent of his passes. He’s going to a QB who completed 55.6 percent of his passes.
Ozomah didn’t sign here because of Wilson, he signed here because he got a 3-year deal for $24 million with $15 million guaranteed.
Here is the point, and I’m not dumping on Wilson, who could be special in time, but free agents didn’t sign with the Jets because of him, they signed because the Jets gave them the best offer.
But right now Wilson has a lot of work to do on footwork, mechanics and accuracy.
These two tight ends came from playing with two established quarterbacks who got them both very involved last year because they both read defenses well.
Wilson still needs work in this area.
As we sit here right now, players signing with the Jets have very little to do with the QB.
Now if you want to talk about people signing with Tampa Bay because of Brady, that is a different story.
And down the road, if Wilson takes that next step as a QB, no doubt he could be a huge factor in people signing with Gang Green.
March 22, 2022
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