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You could argue it was the right thing to do . . .
… but you could also argue the Jets let a good player out of the building.
I’m talking about the Jets release of center/guard Spencer Long on Tuesday.
Long was guaranteed $3 million on Wednesday if he was still with the team.
The knee-jerk reaction of many is, “Good, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
I don’t agree with that reaction.
Long is a good player who had a some rough plays due to a banged-up finger on his snapping hand.
But he’s a good lineman, and Buffalo agrees, gobbling him really fast. On Tuesday, they signed him to a three-year deal. Bills coach Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane aren’t stupid. They played against Long twice last year. They know he’s a good linemen, a mauler who is pretty light on his feet for his size.
After the Jets moved him to guard to replace the injured James Carpenter, and moved Jonotthan Harrison into the center spot, Long finished the season strong, not having to worry about snapping.
A couple of examples from the Jets-Green Bay:
On the Jets’ first possession, Spencer Long locked up linemen Dean Lowry up the middle on an Eli McGuire gain of 10.
Late in first quarter, on a 4-yard TD run by Eli McGuire, Long pulled left and took out safety Josh Jones.
The Bills offensive line wasn’t good last year, and McDermott/Beane know Long can help them, either at guard or center.
In one story about the Jets cutting Long, it was written Long “struggled in his first season with the team.”
Yes, with the snapping issue related to his finger, but in terms of blocking, he didn’t have a bad season.
The situation in Miami was ridiculous. He should never have played into the fourth quarter with that finger problem. That was bad coaching. How is that Long’s fault?
Just because a center had a few issues snapping with a bad finger on his snapping hand, it doesn’t make him a bad linemen.
My point is simple – cutting Long to save $3 million wasn’t necessarily a good move.
So many people are quick to say, “throw the bum out based on a few bad plays.”
You are seeing that with Jermaine Kearse.
That isn’t big picture thinking.
You don’t make personnel decisions based on few rough plays, you make them based on the entire body of work the whole season.
Sometimes, some fans, and some reporters, focus like a laser on a few bad plays, and judge players based on that.
Long is a good football player. He was in Washington and he was most of the time with the Jets.
Hey, the Jets will live to see another day on their offensive line. They will sign some players, perhaps bring back Harrison, and put a line together.
I’m just saying that Long is far from a bum.
February 14, 2019
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