The NFL is like Microsoft. It’s all about windows.
With a hard cap, a big part of NFL team success is taking advantage of windows of opportunity where you have most of your key players under contract.
In so many ways, this year is a quintessential window of opportunity the Jets need to take advantage of.
First of all, they have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time on their roster, Aaron Rodgers, and who knows how much longer he will play after the year. He has expressed an interest in playing beyond this year, but you just never know with a player in his age bracket.
Another reason they need to go for a gusto this year is their amazing 2022 draft class is still on their rookie deals.
While it was great for the Jets to land Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson (IR) and Breece Hall all in the same draft, the tricky part of landing this kind of bumper crop is they will all likely be looking for second contracts around the same time.
Like Miami had a great window last year, but this off-season, with so many big contracts to deal with (like Tua Tagovailoa) they had to let talented defensive tackle (Christian Wilkins) and guard (Robert Hunt) leave in free agency. Those losses have hurt them in the trenches.
But the cap is the cap.
So you need to take advantage of these “window” seasons where myriad key players are locked up contractually.
The Jets are in one of those seasons right now.
They can’t waste it.
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