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Let me vent today, and then I will move forward to focus on the 2024 season, and I think the Jets are going to be a really good team.
The Jets’ cuts on Tuesday were essentially chalk.
No surprises.
Some people will say – “Hey, they kept three undrafted free agent defensive linemen – Leonard Taylor, Braidan McGregor and Eric Watts.”
All three were given guaranteed money when they were signed. From Spotrac, a contract website:
*Taylor signed a 3-year, $2,840,000 contract with the New York Jets, including $10,000 signing bonus, $110,000 guaranteed.
*McGregor signed a 3-year, $2,850,000 contract with the New York Jets, including $20,000 signing bonus, $220,000 guaranteed.
*Watts signed a 3-year, $2,850,000 contract with the New York Jets, including $20,000 signing bonus, $245,000 guaranteed.
So those are not long shots.
So let’s say you think those guys making the team are an example of open competition, well aside from those three, it was chalk.
Perhaps the only surprise was seventh-round draft pick Jaylen Key, but he will be back on the practice squad.
Whatever decisions were a surprise?
None.
Most of these decisions are made before camp start. It is what is it. And this is the case around the league, aside from teams that are in the first year of a rebuild like Carolina, a team that claimed six players on waivers this week, including cornerback Shemar Bartholomew, who was in Jets camp.
Bartholomew caught the attention of the Panthers in the Jets preseason (and in the joint practice).
Look, I’m not a secondary coach, but watching Bartholomew this summer, he looked like a guy the Jets should have kept around.
People will say – Who are you going to keep him over?
How about you put Jarrick Bernard-Converse on short-term injured reserve and keep Bartholomew?
And Bernard-Converse looked decent this summer, but was essentially redshirted last year, but not a lot of evidence right now he is better than Bartholomew.
Look, they should keep Bernard-Converse, no doubt, but what is wrong with short-term IR for JBS and keeping Bartholomew?
Another summer standout, kick returner/cornerback Brandon Codrington, was traded to the Buffalo Bills.
This move was a little surprising.
This could turn into a masterstroke for Buffalo.
People will say the Jets have a good kick returner, Xavier Gipson, so they didn’t need Codrington.
Gipson deserved to make the team as a wide receiver, but is Gipson a good kickoff returner with the new kickoff rule?
Not sure. Not enough evidence.
But in that Carolina preseason game, Codrington looked like he had an ideal skill set for the new kickoff rule.
When it comes to the new kickoff rule, this is a brave new world.
Gipson could be really good with the new kickoff rule, but we don’t know yet.
The Jets traded a guy to a division rival, who could turn out to be a standout with the new kickoff rule.
We don’t know, but it could happen. I know it was just one game at Carolina, but he Codrington looks like he’s got an innate ability to perhaps master this new kickoff landscape.
Okay, I’m not done venting about confirmation bias. It’s a yearly tradition. I’m sorry to those yawning right now.
With all this being said, I think if Aaron Rodgers stays healthy, the Jets will make the playoffs.
August 28, 2024
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