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The Jets aren’t at this point yet, and that is a good thing for them.
Since the advent of a hard cap in the NFL, once you pay the starting QB position megabucks, with the going rate in the $30 million-a-year range, it handcuffs you at other positions.
Last summer, the Oakland Raiders prematurely (in my opinion), gave Derek Carr a five-year deal for $125 million ($25 million-a-year).
And now they are having a hard time ironing out a deal with the best player on their team, outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who is about to hold out from the veteran minicamp.
To me, Carr is a middle-of-the-road QB. Now if you analyze him based on his last few games against the Jets, he’s worth the money, but that was against bad pass defense of biblical proportions.
In my opinion, Carr dinks-and-dunks too much, and isn’t a top-shelf reader of defenses.
Honestly, I don’t think he’s better than Josh McCown, and I think Sam Darnold has more of an upside, so in my opinion the Jets are in a better position than the Raiders right now at the QB spot.
The Jets basically have three quarterbacks on their roster who combined make about half of what Carr makes.
And this allows them to spend money at other positions, like signing one of their biggest needs – a #1 cornerback – Trumaine Johnson (to help prevent the debacles we have seen recently in Oakland, that I referenced before).
You think the Raiders can have gone out and signed a #1 CB like Johnson after the Carr deal? No way.
And now they are having issues signing Mack, who was actually drafted a year earlier than Carr, so he should have been taken care of first.
Actually, if the Raiders had let Carr play on the last year of his rookie contract in 2017, they would have saved a fortune on him in 2018 – A FORTUNE! He was substandard last year and no way could have demanded the kind of money he got.
Also, I’m not sure Jon Gruden is in love with him. He’s stuck with him for a few years, especially since the contract is backloaded.
Another thing to consider about all the extra cap space the Jets have because they aren’t paying the QB like other teams – I think they have the potential to have the best depth in the league. They have myriad talented young veterans on their roster at every position. If Mike Maccagnan puts away with the rose-colored glasses he often wears when it comes to draft picks, and keeps the best 53, the Jets’ depth could be superb this year.
One other thing on Carr. About a year ago, ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote, “Sources said Idzik and his scouts had doubts about Carr because of a lackluster bowl game and the belief — shared by others around the league — that he’d turn out like his older brother, former draft bust David Carr.”
People like to destroy Idzik with regularity, but on this one I agree with him.
Carr is average.
And the Jets are lucky they aren’t paying an average QB $25 million-a-year like the Raiders.
It helps them at other positions.
June 11, 2018
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