JetsReport Free Agency Roundup: Cornerback Antonio Cromartie
Antonio Cromartie has become a polarizing figure in his short tenure as a New York Jet.
Even before his trade to the Jets, Cromartie was infamous for failing to tackle Jets running back Shonn Greene in a playoff game against the Chargers the year before.
So even when he was traded to the Jets, some fans weren’t happy that the team was acquiring a guy who was perceived to be a bad tackler, or an unwilling tackler who was having financial problems because of child support issues.
The critics also highlighted the infamous scene on HBO’s Hard Knocks where Cromartie appeared to struggle remembering the names of all of kids, most of which were born out of wedlock with multiple mothers across multiple states.
However, despite the off-field criticism, Cromartie had a pretty good debut season with the Jets. He was a fine compliment to Darrelle Revis as a lockdown outside corner, often covering the speediest receiver on the field.
Although nobody in the league aside from free agent Nnamdi Asomugha can truly make receivers disappear like Revis can, it is a huge luxury to have a second cornerback like Antonio Cromartie to shutdown an opposing team’s outside passing game, and that was something he did pretty well all year.
Of course, he wasn’t perfect. He gave up his share of big plays. But the Jets had arguably the best 1-2 punch in the NFL this past season. Revis and Cromartie were a dynamic duo, a tandem that made opposing teams adjust their offenses and try to attack the middle of the Jets secondary instead of even testing the outside guys too often.
The Jets traded a conditional pick to the Chargers for Cromartie, and that pick became a second round pick in the upcoming draft. That’s a pretty steep price to pay for a guy if he’s only going to play one season with you and then walk as a free agent. Yet the Jets find themselves in a tough spot now.
After placing the franchise tag on linebacker David Harris, the Jets reportedly appear to have prioritized wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards over Cromartie.
In a way, it makes sense. They want continuity on offense with their young skill position players, especially Mark Sanchez. Sanchez, Holmes and Edwards seemed to have great chemistry together, and it would be wise to keep that core together.
But on the flip side, it’s a lot easier to find a wide receiver than it is to find a good cornerback like Cromartie. And although the rumors are that Cromartie is not a priority for the Jets, that doesn’t mean they don’t want him back.
ProFootballWeekly.com reported this week about some rumblings they’ve heard about the situation, and they made it clear that the Jets have NOT cut ties with Cromartie, even if some people believe that he’s a goner.
The way we hear it, GM Mike Tannenbaum is going to let Cromartie test the free-agent market while he works on retaining his receivers, and then hope the corner chooses to re-sign with the team. Cromartie is a bit of a loose cannon, and some teams don’t want that kind of player in their locker rooms. The Jets, on the other hand, seem to welcome that type of player, a reason Cromartie fits in so well on the roster. Tannenbaum is hoping the player’s familiarity with the team convinces him to stay.
Cromartie has expressed his desire to remain a Jet many times on Twitter, so hopefully this scenario becomes reality. Cromartie was a great fit for the Jets both on the field and in the locker room. I hope that when it’s all said and done, Cromartie signs a new deal with the Jets and returns next season.
It may be difficult for the Jets to keep Holmes, Edwards and Cromartie. My guy tells me that one or two of them will be back, but all three might be a stretch. But never say never. As soon as the CBA uncertainty is cleared up and free agency begins, it’ll be very interesting to see what happens.
Jets Fullback Tony Richardson’s Take on Why the Lockout is a Bad Idea for the NFL
We are now about two weeks away from the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, and two weeks away from the NFL officially locking out the players, putting the 2011 season in doubt.
One of the biggest things that the NFL and NFLPA do not see eye-to-eye on right now is that the NFL is refusing to open their books and share their expense reports with the players.
The NFL feels that it is none of their business, yet the NFLPA wants to see exactly what the numbers look like if they’re being asked to give over $1 billion back to the owners from the players’ portion of the annual revenue.
Jets fullback Tony Richardson wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post about the uncertainty in the labor situation, and why the lockout that the NFL seems to be inevitably gearing up for is a bad idea for all parties. Among his thoughts:
It is crystal clear that fans want to continue watching players playing the game we have loved our entire lives.
Despite this economic success, the owners are openly threatening a lockout, demanding that the players give up $1 billion in our portion of revenues. The owners have claimed these changes are needed to maintain the NFL’s fiscal health, yet they refuse to open their financial books to let us make an informed decision about whether to agree to the request.
This is unfortunate because a lockout is not only harmful to the long-term success of league, it would have a devastating impact on local businesses. In New York/New Jersey, NFL game days are critical to the surrounding communities and workers at New Meadowlands Stadium, who rely upon games to support their families. The average NFL city could lose $160 million in jobs and revenue, and more than 150,000 jobs would be affected if there’s no football in 2011.
NFL football is — far and away — the most popular sport in America, and players want to play next year for our teams and our fans. I hope the owners won’t sacrifice a season and our fans’ goodwill by imposing a lockout. However, because they opted out of the current agreement, we have no guarantee that there will be an NFL season in 2011. Owners, players and fans all win if there is professional football this year.
Take a lockout off the table and let players play.
He is far from the only one echoing these sentiments. The players are not being unreasonable in their requests, in my opinion. If the NFL is serious about coming to an agreement, I would have to think that they’re going to have to open up the books. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, is it?
The average player in the NFL plays about 3 or 4 years in the league. The NFL is a cutthroat league with no guaranteed contracts that has no qualms about cutting players loose as soon as they are injured or unproductive. Just look at Colts safety Bob Sanders, a former defensive player of the year just three seasons ago who was let go today because of his inability to stay healthy.
The NFL and NFLPA will meet for in federal mediation today in Washington D.C. to try to smooth out some of the animosity between the two sides. For the sake of the league, the players, and the fans especially, I sincerely hope the two sides can come to an agreement in a reasonable amount of time. It would be absurd for the 2011 season to be shortened or canceled because of a lockout.
JetsReport Free Agency Roundup: Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards
Braylon Edwards revitalized his NFL career after he was traded to the Jets during the 2009 season.
He had an immediate impact on the development of Mark Sanchez, giving the young quarterback a bonafide home run threat during his first two seasons in the league.
Edwards wore out his welcome in Cleveland and was a steal for the Jets during his two seasons in Green and White. He was known as a guy who was plagued by drops and a lack of focus, but evidently Rex Ryan was the cure.
In 2010, Braylon Edwards was one of the most sure-handed receivers in the league, with only 2 drops all season. Compare that to teammates Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller, who had 8 and 7 drops, respectively. For those wondering, New England’s Wes Welker led the NFL in drops this season with 13.
Edwards had one hiccup this year, when he was arrested for a DUI in September in Manhattan. Perhaps that will prevent him from getting a big money deal in free agency if teams are wary about committing to him long-term.
Among the Jets’ multitude of free agents, Edwards is not a top priority, although I’m sure the Jets would love to have him back.
Linebacker David Harris has been tagged as the Jets’ franchise player and will likely be signed to a long-term deal as soon as possible. After that, fellow wide receiver Santonio Holmes is probably more likely to return than Edwards. He is a former Super Bowl MVP and one of the clutchest players in the NFL.
So where does that leave Edwards? He may be the odd man out if the Jets are unable to re-sign both of their starting wide receivers. The Jets also have to deal with cornerback Antonio Cromartie and wide receiver/kick returner/Wildcat back Brad Smith hitting free agency.
Edwards has expressed deep gratitude to the Jets organization for helping him get his career back on track, and has made his feelings known on Twitter many times. He wants to be a Jet for life.
Does that mean he would take less money from the Jets and potentially turn down more money from another team to come back in 2011? That remains to be seen. If he’s willing to take a little less to be a part of something special in New York, I imagine the Jets will make room for him.
Until the new CBA is taken care of, everyone is playing the waiting game, of course.
The Jets cannot possibly expect all of their star free agents to take less money or a shorter deal to stay with the team, but it’s certainly not out of the question to see a couple of guys put their loyalty to Rex Ryan and company over a big pay day.
I believe that Edwards is a guy who is going to stay loyal to the Jets and stay here no matter what. The others guys are trickier to predict, but I’m pretty confident we wil see 17 in a Jets uniform for years to come.
Around the Web: Free Agent DT Shaun Rogers is Well Worth the Risk
Last week, the Cleveland Browns released a few players as part of their attempt to revamp their defense under new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron and new head coach Pat Shurmur.
Among the players that were cut were three ex-Jets who played under Eric Mangini in New York and Cleveland, defensive lineman Kenyon Coleman, as well as linebackers David Bowens and Eric Barton.
But the biggest guy who was cut loose, literally and figuratively, was defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.
Now granted, Rogers was not a good fit for the 3-4 defense the Browns were previously running, and the Jets do run a 3-4 at times, so who knows if he’d be a good fit here.
But the Jets do run a lot of hybrid formations including 4 down lineman sets as well, and in my mind, there’s always room for a dominant interior pass rusher, and that’s exactly what Shaun Rogers is.
Khaled Elsayed of Pro Football Focus has quickly become a must-read author on a must-read site for me. For those who aren’t familiar with PFF, they are the advanced stats football website that I’m quite fond of, and they use unique analysis that you can’t find anywhere else on the web.
Elsayed wrote about Rogers today, and why any team who wants to take a shot on the big man will find he’s well worth the risk, and then some.
As many Jets fans know, the Jets suffered from a lack of pass rush all season, yet Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine were able to come up with brilliant schemes each week that enabled the team to reach the AFC Championship game for the second straight season.
Trevor Pryce was a godsend when he came to the Jets midseason. He was easily the best interior pass rusher the Jets had, which is problem considering Pryce may not return next season. That’s why getting a guy like Rogers who can push the pocket is so important. As Elsayed notes:
You know what I’d hate if I was a quarterback? I’d hate not being able to step up into my throws. It’s why guys like Ndamukong Suh and Tommy Kelly are nightmares for offensive coordinators. They push interior lineman back, get up the field and prevent quarterbacks from doing what they want to do. It’s why these same offensive co-ordinators hate Shaun Rogers.
He continues:
I looked at our numbers and saw how much a defensive tackle rushed the quarterback. Then I looked at how much pressure he got. And you know what I saw in Rogers? A guy who in 272 pass rushes got to the quarterback for three sacks, 12 hits and 15 further pressures. That kind of ratio was third best among all defensive tackles who played more than 200 snaps.
Better than Haloti Ngata. Better than Kevin Williams. Heck it was even better than my man crush Kyle Williams.
I’m going to drop an “E” bomb: those are “Elite” numbers, and Rogers continues to be an elite pass rusher.
If PFF thinks he’s elite, I believe them. No football site on the planet tells the whole truth about player performance better than then do. Elsayed went into the numbers and discovered this:
We’ve been going three years now. Want to know the pure pass rushing grading for Rogers in that time?
- 2008, he finished 2nd
- 2009, he finished 3rd (in an injury shortened year)
- 2010, he finished 7th (despite being relegated to a situational role)
That’s not just consistency. That’s dominance.
Pro Football Focus’s numbers don’t lie. This guy is a difference maker, and the fact that he’s a free agent now is a HUGE deal. It’s been rumored that there might be around 10 teams interested in services, and he’s meeting with the Washington Redskins this week.
I don’t particularly think the Jets will end up with him, but they’d be crazy not to take a look. Rogers is a beast when he’s motivated, and he would make the Jets defense even scarier in 2011. Who better to motivate him than Rex Ryan?
I just hope Rogers doesn’t end up in Indianapolis or New England. I’d rather see him in the NFC if he’s not coming here.
JetsReport Free Agency Roundup: Wide Receiver Santonio Holmes
Santonio Holmes had an unbelievable debut season in green and white, after the Jets acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers just two years after he was the MVP of Super Bowl XLIII.
Holmes had 52 catches for 746 yards and 6 touchdowns in 12 regular season games, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
In his five year career, Holmes has solidified his status as one of the NFL’s clutchest receivers, with his ability to make big plays when his team needs him the most.
In four of the Jets’ 11 victories, Holmes made a gamebreaking play to set up or score the winning points, all in a five game span. His propensity for the big play made him a fan favorite, as well as a great target for young Mark Sanchez.
Consider this. Santonio Holmes has played in seven postseason games in his five year NFL career. He has scored a touchdown in six of those seven games.
The lone game he failed to score in was the Jets’ 17-16 victory against the Colts exactly one month ago, a game in which both Jets touchdowns were scored by LaDainian Tomlinson.
He seems to just have a knack for making a huge play when his team needs him most. You think the Steelers would’ve liked to have him during that last drive against the Packers?
No clutch receiver, no Super Bowl ring. They wouldn’t have won Super Bowl XLIII without him, and they couldn’t win Super Bowl XLV without him. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
When the Jets traded a fifth round pick to the Steelers for Holmes, they knew the risks involved. They knew he was in the last year of his contract, and that they could lose him to free agency. But that’s a risk you have to take when you’re a Super Bowl contender. The Jets fell just short, and now risk losing him to the open market.
Holmes will turn 27 ironically enough on March 3, the same day the current labor agreement is set to expire. The Jets have already indicated they will likely use the franchise tag (if it’s valid) on linebacker David Harris and not Holmes, so the Jets will either have to lock up Holmes long-term or lose him.
Of all three of the Jets free agent wide receivers, Santonio Holmes has had the shortest tenure, yet arguably the biggest impact. Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith have had great Jets careers, and I’ll look deeper into each of them in the next few weeks.
I think among them, Holmes has to be the top priority, just slightly over Braylon Edwards, and behind only David Harris among all Jets free agents. Holmes deserves whatever the market value for a number one receiver is, and I hope the Jets are able to hang onto him.
