Well it’s that time of the year again where every team in the league gives their fans hope for the new season by signing players to over-priced contracts but it seems the Jets didn’t get the memo. The Jets have gotten off to a sluggish start this offseason by being overly conservative in their approach towards free agents. General manager Joe Douglas has made some very savvy under the radar deals along with some deals that make you scratch your head.
Signing Brian Poole to a 1 year 5-million-dollar deal and Connor McGovern to a 3 year 27-million-dollar deal with 18 million guaranteed are key deals in Joe Douglas’s plan for the team, but he hasn’t been perfect. On the first day of the legal tampering period the Jets either whiffed on or completely ignored addressing either tackle spot and they got burned for doing so. The Jets missed out on solid players like Jack Conklin and Halapoulivaati Vatai who signed affordable deals that the Jets could’ve matched or even surpassed. The Jets ended up with George Fant who has been below average at best in Seattle and not only that, the Jets signed him to a 3 year 30-million-dollar contract with almost half of that guaranteed.
The patient and stable approach of Joe Douglas is a bit worrisome considering he was boasting about how the Jets would be major players in the offensive line market. In Joe Douglas’s defense it is very difficult to sell free agents on Adam Gase because he has shown his ability to alienate players no matter how talented they are. Joe Douglas has secured solid second tier players and still has more work to do in order to fill out the rest of this roster.
If Joe Douglas wants to have a successful free agency, I suggest that he becomes a little more proactive in his pursuit of talent that would fill the needs at cornerback and edge even if that means splurging a little.