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Everything Aaron Glenn, Darren Mougey, and Rick Spielman do to turn around the Jets must be about building a winning program correctly.
And what they need to eschew every step of the way is making any move with public opinion polls in mind.
That is not how you build a winner.
The days of the Jets worrying about getting on as many tabloid back pages as possible should be over. I heard that was a thing in the past.
Will the Jets extend Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner this off-season, since they have had a philosophy in the recent past of waiting until after the fourth year to extend first-round picks? After posting an article about this, a long-time sports reporter tweeted at me, “The Jets public image is so tarnished now, they can’t afford to let these two get away.”
Tweeted back at him, essentially what the article is about – any NFL executives that make personnel decisions based on appeasing the public will probably end up sitting with them in the stands one day.
It’s a really bad idea.
Everything should be based on the film and the salary cap.
A big Jets fan tweeted, “A Garrett Wilson extension would really help the morale of the fanbase.”
The morale of the fan base has nothing to do with winning.
Glenn, Mougey and Spielman should never let a desire to assuage the public seep into ANY football decisions they make.
Do you think Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Bill Walsh or Jimmy Johnson ever worried about that?
It has nothing to do with winning.
Nothing.
So if the Jets decide to extend two players, who are under contract for two more years (with their fifth-year options), and have played on teams that have 19-32 in their three years, it should strictly be based on the football – the film, the salary cap and so forth.
There should be no PR element to these decisions. None!
Hey, there is a good chance they will ignore public opinion polls with their decisions. They certainly did in moving on from Aaron Rodgers, who threw 28 TDs last year, the same as league MVP Josh Allen.
There is pressure to re-sign team MVP Jamien Sherwood, who is a free agent.
Be careful with that one.
The team MVP thing should have no bearing on that.
While he deserves some credit for that, it’s almost kind of an indictment of all the big-ticket players on the roster – high picks and highly-paid individuals who didn’t win it.
When a fifth-round linebacker, in his first year as a starter, after being a backup for three years, wins team MVP, kudos to him, but what’s with the more likely candidates? You know who they are.
Sherwood is solid, but not spectacular, and the Jets’ run defense was bad last year and he’s an inside linebacker. Not blaming him for the run defense issues, but he was on the field for some real run defense debacles. Also, he had three PDs and no picks in 17 games, and he’s a former safety, so perhaps he should be more of a presence in coverage than he was.
Look, I’m looking to beat up on the player. He’s solid, but why would a new regime break the bank on him, when they could sign a former Lion LB, who knows Glenn’s system, like Derrick Barnes or Jalen Mabin-Reeves, a lot cheaper.
Once again, don’t worry about public opinion polls and people saying if he signs elsewhere, “How could they let Sherwood leave?”
Don’t worry about that stuff – base everything on the film – Aaron, Darren and Rick need to devour the film, which they are, of the current roster, and make decisions accordingly.
There should be no PR element to anything, not a modicum of worrying about what the fans and media will say.
Nothing should be done trying to make a “big splash.” That is fool’s gold.
Forget the back pages of the tabloids.
March 5,, 2025
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