No more bidding against themselves

He seems more disciplined than some of his predecessors.

Talking about Joe Douglas in free agency.

He clearly is a guy who doesn’t believe in bidding against himself.

In the past, the Jets have been guilty of this, like in the case of Le’Veon Bell, Trumaine Johnson and Darrelle Revis (his second stint with the team). That isn’t an ideal strategy in a cap sport.

We talked about the three offensive linemen they signed (for almost the price of one – Jack Conklin).

And today Adam Schefter announced that the Jets have signed nickel back Brian Poole to a one-year, $5 million contract. It was leaked to Schefter by Poole’s agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Another smart, tight deal – no largesse.

This is the best way to handle free agency. Don’t spend like a drunken sailor and throw around money recklessly, but instead find quality talent, no necessarily superstars, but very good at their jobs, and bring them in at smart contracts, that make them happy, and don’t blow up the team’s cap.

Poole was good for the Jets last year. Good, not sensational. If he was dominant, he would have had a bigger market, and received more than a one-year deal. But he was the Jets’ best cornerback. It’s possible his play was considered a tad bit better than it was because of how poor the Jets’ cornerback play was on the outside. Also what maybe created the perception that he was perhaps a little better than he was, was the man he followed, Buster Skrine, who was wildly inconsistent over his four years with the team. The way Skrine played over his four years with the Jets, some other teams would have cut the cord earlier, but Mike Maccagnan was very friendly with one of his agents, perhaps obscuring his view of the player. Also some in the media covered for Poole because he was nice and cooperative with them.

Don’t take the previous paragraph as a shot at Poole. He’s a solid player who the Jets should have re-signed, but one-year for $5 million makes sense. Perhaps the previous regime would have given him a three-year deal like they did with Darryl Roberts, which was surprising.

Poole is a steady all-round corner, with good coverage instincts, along with being terrific against the run and a good blitzer.

In the Jets win over Buffalo in Week 17, he had one of his best plays of the year, stopping Bills running back T.J. Yeldon for a loss of 7 on a running play. Another standout play was a Pick Six against Oakland.

Poole had that one pick (on a tipped pass by Neville Hewitt) and have 5 PD’s. Now 5 PD’s isn’t a gaudy number, but part of that was teams picking on the Jets outside guys so much, they didn’t test Poole as much.

So that is kind of compliment to Poole, but also illustrative of the fact that Douglas better get to work fixing the outside cornerback positions.

He released Trumaine Johnson today, and we will see if he follows with Roberts, the starters entering last season. They are not bringing back Maurice Canady or Arthur Maulet. There are going be a lot new names in the CB room.

There is talk the Jets showing interest in Chicago Bear (former Giant) Prince Amukamura. They are going to sign a couple of guys at cornerback. We will see what Schefter or Rapoport announces.

But one spot that is set is the nickel position, with the return of Poole, under a deal that wasn’t profligate.

March 18, 2020

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