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The Jets made another significant move today which wasn’t easy. But for some reason, they still haven’t made the most obvious move.
The Jets released Nick Mangold today.
This is obviously major news. He was an all-time great Jet.
However, from a football standpoint, the Jets should be fine.
Wesley Johnson is a good football player.
One of John Idzik’s better moves was taking advantage of the Pittsburgh Steelers trying to move Johnson to the practice squad on October 13, 2014. The Steelers liked him. They picked him in the fifth round. However, they had to make some roster moves due to injuries, rolled the dice they could sent him down to the practice squad, and they got burned.
Johnson was a very good left tackle at Vanderbilt, but at 295 pounds, was probably a little light to stay at OT on the NFL level, so he was immediately moved inside by the Steelers.
Johnson was “Mr. Versatility” at Vanderbilt, with starts at all the offensive line positions aside from right guard.
But while he did play a little center for the Commodores, he was still low on the growth curve at the position when the Jets acquired him.
Now, three years later, after a lot of good coaching, and hard work by Johnson, he’s turned into a bonafide center. In fact, I think he has Pro Bowl potential, that is how good I think he can be.
He’s very athletic for a center, consistently getting to the second level when asked to pull. He has very good feet and terrific technique. He’s also very smart and can handle the line calls. On top of that, he’s got alpha leadership skills. I was on the field before the Jets game in San Francisco (usually writers aren’t allowed on the field before games, but at Levi’s Stadium you are welcome). I saw Johnson really taking charge of the offensive line in the pregame work. He was very vocal leading his charges.
Coming out of Vanderbilt he needed to get a lot stronger in the weight room, and he’s done that the last three years.
The Jets have a lot of issues right now – like in the secondary and obviously at quarterback, but don’t include center on this list.
To me, Johnson will do just fine.
Releasing Mangold wasn’t easy for the Jets. He gave them 11 really good seasons, playing the center position on a high level. But he just turned 33, and had health issues the last couple of years with a neck problem and high ankle sprain. The Jets cleared $9 million in much-needed cap space with the move. He will definitely be in the team’s Ring-of-Honor.
But you can’t let sentimentality impact personnel decisions. It was time to move on from Mangold, especially at his current salary.
However, it remains a mystery why Darrelle Revis is still with the Jets. If the reason is related to the team waiting a little to see if they can get some extra money back due to his arrest, that is fine. But if they think they have to finesse the situation because he’s a legendary Jets, that is foolish. Who cares? That ship has sailed.
If you can release Mangold, Revis should be easy. When he was on the field the last two years, Mangold played well. Revis didn’t.
This is a business.
You have to make bottom-line decisions, and that is what the Jets did today with Mangold, even though it wasn’t easy to do.
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