Still a need

ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced that free agent defensive end Jadeveon Clowney agreed to a two-year, $20 million contract with the Carolina Panthers.

The guarantee was not mentioned in the report. Sometimes this is done to make the deal look like it’s bigger than it is to help out the agent.

But clearly it’s more than the Jets could offer, since the Panthers had more cap room.

The Jets have just $9.7 million in cap space according to OverTheCap.com.

Also, Clowney comes Rock Hill, South Carolina, which is like a suburb of Charlotte, right over the state border. Rock Hill is so close to Charlotte, that the Panthers were building an $800,000 training complex in that town, but the team’s owner pulled out of the deal after construction was pretty far along. They have to tear down the partially built structures to repurpose the land.

So not only did Clowney get more money than the Jets could offer, he has a chance to go home.

The Jets will live to see another day after losing Clowney, but he could have helped them.

Not only is he a good pass rusher, but a solid run defender, and the Jets’ run defense up front wasn’t very good last year.

You hear so many national sports commentators pushing the narrative that the Jets had a great defense last year, but the offense was bad.

This is no true, and an example of why NFL coverage could be better. A lot of false narratives. So many players and teams to cover, that if you aren’t local, and don’t get into the weeds studying a team, you often hang your hat on the accepted cliche narratives that aren’t accurate.

This narrative about the Jets’ elite defense being let down by the offense has taken off like wildfire, but how can you have an elite defense, when you aren’t good at stopping the run?

The Jets’ pass rush was good last year, and so was their pass coverage, but their run defense was porous.

That is why the signing of massive defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw and Leki Totu in free agency was so necessary and so underrated.

And because so many people didn’t realize the run defense was bad, they perhaps didn’t praise the signings enough. These were important signings, just as much as offensive line signings.

It’s hard to win in the NFL if you can’t stop the run.

So now after missing out on Clowney, they still need to add more upfront.

Aside from the importance of improving the run defense, they also need another end as insurance for their edge-rush after losing Bryce Huff in free agency.

Huff was the Jets best-edge rusher last year. Will McDonald hardly played and Jermaine Johnson did some good things, but still has some room for improvement.

John Franklin-Myers makes plays here and there, but they need more meat on the bone there.

So if an edge-rusher is the best player on the board at 10, while this might shock people, that position might need to be a consideration, especially after missing out on Clowney.

January 27, 2024

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