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It’s pretty obvious that it . . .
. . . was a money ball decision.
I’m talking about the Jets not re-signing Pro Bowl kick returner Andre Roberts.
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan was talking at the Owner’s Meeting and basically sometimes you just come to terms on a contract in negotiations with some players. I didn’t record this press briefing, so I’m paraphrasing, but that was essentially what he said.
It struck he at the time as a little odd, because Roberts didn’t get a ton of money from Buffalo.
Roberts got a two-year deal for $4.6 million with $3 million guaranteed.
Does that sound like a case of profligate spending? Not really.
The bottom line is the Jets have a money ball approach when it comes to kick returner.
Today they claimed kick returner Quadree Henderson off waivers from the Football Giants.
He makes the league minimum salary, around $300,000, so if he lands the Jets kick return job, the Jets will save $2 million at this position, with Roberts average salary at $2.3 million for two years.
I’m not saying the Jets are cheap. Far from at as you saw with the monster deals they gave Le’Veon Bell and C.J. Mosley. They also gave good money to Jamison Crowder and Henry Anderson.
But clearly when it comes to kick returner, they have a money ball philosophy.
Keep in mind, with the new rule changes, there are a lot of touch backs of kickoffs, so that plays into the money ball angle also.
One factor here is that with the new rules, there are tons of touch backs, so the position doesn’t have the impact it used to.
But even with with the reduced impact of kick returns, Roberts had quite an impact on the Jets. He had a punt return for a touchdown against the Detroit Lions and a kick return for a TD against Green Bay. He consistently gave the Jets good field position.
So you can understand why Roberts was pissed at the Jets for letting him walk after a Pro Bowl season.
“The way they kind of handled it was a little shady,” Robert said after signing with Buffalo.
Have to admit, I never in a million years thought that the Jets were going to move on from Roberts. Was caught off guard by this one. Never saw it coming.
But clearly they don’t put a lot of monetary value in the position.
And if they go with Henderson to replace Roberts, this illustrates that . . .
As I said yesterday, I don’t get to into talking about uniforms. I’d rather talk about the guys who plays in them.
The Jets new uniforms look fine to me. I saw a website trash the new uniforms, but to me, part of that is click-bait. If you write nice things about the uniforms, are you going to get a lot of clicks?
Jets President Neil Glat said about the new uniforms:
“It’s a statement about the future. I think it’s a statement about how we want to be perceived as a little bolder, a little more innovative and a little greater.”
Of course the new uniforms won’t have much of an impact on how the players in those uniforms play.
But I do think, from a sports psychology standpoint, it’s not a bad thing from a fresh start standpoint. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing to change uniforms from a mental standpoint.
April 5, 2019
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