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This wasn’t bad news for the Jets. Some people will represent it that way, but it really wasn’t bad news. Let’s take a look.
LB Dont’a Hightower re-signed with New England today. This isn’t bad news for the Jets.
He got a four-year, $43 million deal from New England with $19 million guaranteed.
Sounds about right. Much more than that would have been overpaying.
And that is what the Jets would have had to do. Overpay. They need to take a year or two off from that approach.
It’s interesting. So many people were talking about what an upgrade Hightower would have been over David Harris. The reason some are down on Harris is that he can be suspect in coverage. Well, I have some news for everyone, Hightower isn’t much of an upgrade over Harris in coverage. Hightower has no career picks, and just 13 PD’s over his five NFL seasons. That is underwhelming. Over the last two seasons, Harris had seven PD’s and Hightower had four.
If you really look at the free agent market for Hightower, it wasn’t great. Teams looked at the film, and didn’t see eye-popping production. Once again, solid player, but not a star. He’s also been banged up a lot in recent years, missing 11 games the last three seasons.
Hightower did the Jets a favor by re-signing with New England, and not allowing the Jets to overpay him.
And honestly, the last five years, Hightower has been brainwashed in New England to hate and disrespect the Jets. So does anyone really think he would wanted to be a Jet? No, he’s not wired to be a Jet at this point.
You ever see a really old guy with a young attractive girlfriend? So often this scenario takes place because the guy is rich. The woman isn’t that into him, but she’s into his money and the lifestyle it provides her.
To me, if Hightower had taken the Jets $12 million-a-year, it wouldn’t have been because he was into them, but he was into their money. That isn’t healthy.
You have to stand clear of this kind of signing.
And they avoided bringing in a guy whose heart-and-soul probably wouldn’t have been into being a Jet.
It incumbent upon the Jets brass, over the next few years, to establish a culture. It’s been a while since the Jets had a strong culture.
Bringing in hired guns and individual contractors in free agency is no way to build a culture.
The Jets need to draft better, develop myriad homegrown Jets, guys who love being Jets, and bleed Jets green.
The days of them being an ATM for free agents looking to cash in and take advantage of them, needs to be over.
I remember in Rich Kotite’s second year the Jets went on a spending spree to try to boost up the coach. They finished 3-13.
Bill Parcells once said, “You can’t buy a championship.”
So the Jets missing out on Hightower has a silver-lining.
They stayed away from paying a good, not great linebacker star money.
March 15, 2017
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