Content available exclusively for subscribers
A really smart underrated strategy by Mike . . .
Maccagnan
It’s a really smart stratagem.
And I’m not talking about the New York Jets trade-up for quarterback Sam Darnold or the signing of shutdown cornerback Trumaine Johnson, which I think were both good moves.
I’m talking about something a lot less obvious.
Something else Mike Maccagnan did this off-season was darn smart, and is kind of flying under the radar.
I’ve touched on this a little before but want to dive in a little more today.
Maccagnan loaded up on quality depth, which is really important in pro football, the sport with perhaps the most injuries.
I will give you a few examples.
They have three starting quality centers – Spencer Long, Travis Swanson and Jonotthan Harrison. Long (Washington), Swanson (Detroit) and Harrison (Indianapolis and Jets) all have had a bunch of NFL starts.
The Jets’ wide receiver room is loaded with backups with experience like Terrelle Pryor, Charles Johnson, Tre McBride, Andre Roberts, Lucky Whitehead to name a few.
They also have two veteran quarterbacks in the fold in Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater to keep things going until Darnold is truly ready.
At inside linebacker, they signed three players with starting experience to backup Darron Lee and Avery Williamson in Kevin Pierre-Louis, Kevin Minter and Neville Hewitt.
Let me explain why the strategy here is so smart, aside from the obvious reason that you need good depth.
The reason it’s so smart is that all these players were in the building during the team’s off-season program. They learned the system.
You see, by having around $100 million in cap space, they could sign a bunch of veterans, who cost more than rookies or first-year players, and get them in the facility early.
We all know that NFL teams suffer a ton of injuries.
We all have seen myriad players go down in training camp, with short and long-term injuries.
So with so much veteran depth in the building, the Jets have experienced, capable player ready to plug in who know the system.
As opposed to having to sign guys, in August, who have no clue what you are doing. Signing veterans on the fly, and attempting to teach them the system in, let’s say August or September, is far from ideal for coaches and the product on the field. You can only give them so much to do. It limits your playbook.
Taking advantage of a ton of cap space, and signing all these young veterans, without going over the cap, allows the Jets to have quality, experienced players, ready to plug in, with system-knowledge.
I like this plan.
It’s very smart.
I really think Maccagnan has grown a great deal as a GM. He’s come a long way from that profligate spending spree on defensive backs right when he arrived. That was a bad plan and didn’t work out very well.
Maccagnan still has a long way to go, but he’s definitely moved up the growth curve as a GM over his three years on the job.
July 6, 2018
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Monday.