The Jets next decade is in the hands of Joe Douglas

As the playoffs start, yet again the Jets will be watching alongside me and the rest of Jets nation, as the real season begins. I could write at nauseum about how dreadful the Jets were and how Adam Gase (along with the rest of the Jets coaching staff), or how Sam Darnold continues to fail to progress as a signal caller in the NFL, or how most of the J-E-T-S faithful aren’t truly fans of the team. Rather than waste energy doing that, I’ll be optimistic and take a deep dive into what a successful offseason could look like.

Joe Douglas in my eyes gets a pass for the 2020 offseason, three players who could’ve help win games (Josh Doctson, C.J. Mosley, and Leo Koloamatangi) and could’ve been starters at points in the season, had his first two draft picks (Mekhi Becton and Denzel Mims) sidelined for important parts of the season, and of course, Adam Gase coached the roster Douglas put together. Now, Douglas gets to hire a coach for the first time as a general manager, has the fourth most cap space in the league this offseason, $24.4M, and truly gets to try to turn gang green around. The most important issue as the Jets watch another postseason from the comfort of their own homes, is who will be coaching gang green when they take the field in the fall. In order for Joe Douglas to have a successful tenor as the general manager for the Jets, he must nail the head coaching hire this offseason.

With the hire of Robert Saleh, the Jets are leaning on their old formula of success: hire a defensive coach, who is a player’s coach, and hire a bunch of good assistance to create a well-rounded team with tons of chemistry.  

Moving to free agency, this is where Joe Douglas can help both his quarterback and new head coach. According to Spotrac, the Jets have $24.4M in cap to spend for the offseason. The number one issue I would address in free agency is the weapons around Sam Darnold. I would sign two new receivers to add to last years’ second round pick Denzel Mims. I would sign Sammy Watkins to a three-year $50M contract ($33M guaranteed with $11M off the cap this season) and I would sign Kendrick Bourne to a two-year $15M contract ($10M guaranteed with $5M off the cap in 2021). Of course, Juju Smith-Schuster is enticing, but the Jets with the cap space they have Smith-Schuster is out of the Jets price range. Signing Watkins and Bourne would take $16M off the cap already.

With $8.4M left, I would make three more moves to better the defense and special teams. I would resign Marcus Maye to a three-year $30M contract ($19M guaranteed with $2.8M off the cap this season), sign Mackensie Alexander to a one-year $3.4M contract ($2.4M guaranteed) to bolster the secondary, and sign Joey Syle to a one-year $800K contract ($400K guaranteed) to make sure that when the offense doesn’t produce touchdowns, three points is almost an absolute certainty. All these moves are not going to make the Jets a Super Bowl team overnight, but these moves will make gang green a competitive team in 2021. That is the first step to becoming a Super Bowl team, you have to be a competitive team first. Giving Darnold weapons, shoring up the back end of the defense, and getting a reliable kicker give the Jets the best chance to build a team that can turn into a yearly contender three or so years down the road. It also shows the fanbase that the Jets brain trust care about making the Jets a winning franchise. Now onto the draft, I’m only going to address the first two rounds (I’m not Todd McShay).

First, let’s start with the elephant in the room when it comes to the Jets outlook with the number two pick. The mob of “Jets fans” that want Justin Fields are absolute morons. Drafting Fields would slow the progress of the offseason and start the rebuild over again. The Jets have a quarterback who has been in a situation where it’s career suicide up to this point. Darnold has made chicken salad out of chicken shit for most of his pro career.

With recent news of Deshaun Watson’s relationship with Houston is unfixable, (sound familiar New Yorkers?), Joe Douglas should make the call to see what it would cost to bring yet another Houston star to the Big Apple. The question that Douglas has to ask himself is does he believe getting Watson with less draft ammo is better than surrounding Darnold with extra talent. I’d love Watson in a Jets uniform—getting him would cost the second pick this year, a second rounder, and probably a first rounder next year, along with Darnold. Is all of that worth putting the guy you’re acquiring in a similar position to the one he left…

The smart pick for the Jets at number two is drafting Penei Sewell the Offense Tackle from Oregon. Drafting offensive line help isn’t sexy, but it will win you games in the long run. Bookending the line with Becton and Sewell will make life easier for Darnold and remind real Jets fans of D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold. Having Becton and Sewell also makes big play opportunities more likely because Darnold will have time, the running game will be better for Ty Johnson (La’Mikel Perine or whoever lines up next to or behind Sam Darnold).

With the Seattle pick in the first round, I would draft either Chris Olave the Ohio State Wide Receiver if he is there or Najee Harris is, he is there or the best available cornerback. Olave is a top five receiver in the draft, while he’s not DeVonte Smith, he’s a reliable route runner with solid hands. Najee Harris is the best running back in the draft and looks like he’s Derrick Henry lite. If the new head coach and Douglas have any doubts about the stability of the running back room, Harris will sure it up. What this second 1^st round pick does for the Jets is give another weapon for the offense giving Darnold the best chance to succeed going all in on the upside for Darnold to truly see behind center (plus giving him the most amount of confidence possible). In the second round I would draft Zaven Collins the Linebacker from Tulsa, Dylan Moses Linebacker from Alabama, or Chazz Surratt Linebacker from North Carolina. Either way, I’d pick the best available linebacker.

Collins recorded 54 total tackles (38 solo), four sacks, two forced fumbles, and four interceptions with two touchdowns. Moses for the Champion Crimson Tide recorded 80 total tackles (40 solo), 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and an interception. Surratt had 91 total tackles (49 solo), six sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception. Gang green needs a leader in the middle of the defense because since David Harris and Demario Davis were let go in free agency, there has not been a true leader in the middle of the defense. Joe Douglas can continue to be a football contractor and sketch out the architecture of a playoff team on a yearly basis.

If Joe Douglas maps out the offseason like I’ve outlined in this piece, the Jets, with the schedule they have for 2021—can be a team that wins seven or eight games. That might not seem like a drastic improvement, but it will be considering the Jets have been trapped in the most toxic coaching relationship in the history of the league. It is time to let the real men in the room this offseason, so Joe Douglas, please, PLEASE, do not screw this up!