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The media narrative that John Idzik is cheap has caught on like wildfire. Is it true? Let’s take a closer look at this accusation . . .
I’m not sure it’s entirely true, but once these talking points take off, it’s hard to say the opposite, without getting eviscerated.
In free agency, the Jets signed the best right tackle available (Breno Giacomini), the best quarterback available (Michael Vick), the best running back available (Chris Johnson), perhaps the best receiver (Eric Decker) and brought back Willie Colon, a superb run blocker.
They also signed Dimitri Patterson, who had more picks last year than Antonio Cromartie, even though Patterson only played six games.
There was no way anyone could have predicted Patterson would go AWOL for a preseason game. He had no track record of erratic behavior.
Now you can criticize Idzik for signing Patterson, due to his injury history, considering he got hurt again this summer. That is a legitimate criticism.
No question Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is better than Patterson, but we don’t know if he would have signed with the Jets, even if they had raised their offer. No guarantees on that. He might have chosen the Giants no matter what. He’s close with Antrel Rolle.
Idzik didn’t want to give a long-term big money deal to a player who had been on four teams in seven years. He wanted to give him a generous short-term deal.
Perhaps Idzik didn’t handle this well, but the bottom line is that Woody Johnson brought him in to sign smarter contracts, not reckless contract players like Santonio Holmes, Mark Sanchez and Antonio Cromartie deals, that handcuffed the organization.
My big issue with Idzik is his QB-agenda.
He’s attached at the hip to a second-round quarterback, and signed Michael Vick this off-season, and then oversaw a rigged quarterback competition, in the process re-defined what the word “competition” meant. That was weak. We all know about “competition” means, and none of us bought his re-definition of the word.
One long-time NFL writer, who has covered a lot of QB sagas, said to me yesterday, “They are going to divide the locker room.”
Rex says the team “to a man” supports Geno.
He doesn’t know what’s in their hearts and minds.
The players aren’t stupid. They aren’t oblivious. They see Michael Vick in that locker room. They play the Madden video game a lot. He was their quarterback in the game. He’s an iconic figure to many of them.
“Eventually, it might click for Smith, who’s still just 23 years old, but Ryan doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for eventually,” said NFL.com’s Brian Billick, Rex’s boss in Baltimore.
That is right, and the way the fans are turning on Idzik, he might not either.
What Idzik needs to understand is that giving Geno all this playing time, doesn’t guarantee that he’s going to get the kinks out.
The NFL wayside is loaded with high draft pick quarterbacks, who were given two or three years as the starter, and the same mistakes kept rearing their ugly heads.
Geno is making the same mistakes he made last year with too many turnovers and a tendency to lock on his primary target.
Maybe he will improve in these areas, but there are no guarantees.
So in closing, I don’t have as big an issue with Idzik’s off-season spending, as I do with his bizarre quarterback vision where ego issues, related to his hand-picked quarterback, are getting in the way of what might be best for the team.
September 30, 2014
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