Reacting To ESPN’s Off-Season Grade For The New York Jets!

Reacting To ESPN’s Off-Season Grade For The New York Jets!

All right, guys. What’s going on? Welcome in. So, Seth Walder of ESPN just recently did a huge piece where I mean, he literally dove into every single team in football, giving them an offseason grade, talking about his favorite move, the move that he disliked the most, while also uh the biggest move, right? Highlighting that as well. all giving uh pretty decent descriptions for every single uh situation and organization out there. And for the New York Jets, he gave them a B, a solid B. Uh which was, I believe, top 15 uh right around that 1312 mark if my math serves me correctly here. Uh but let’s take a look at it because, you know, with some teams, he wasn’t as kind. You know, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, like he was not uh you know, just giving every team an A minus. A minus. A minus, you know, B+ B+ like some teams got some uh some some heat from Walder here, but not the Jets. Let’s take a look at what he had to say. So, the biggest move obviously hiring head coach Aaron Glenn. The move he liked the most, signing Justin Fields. The move he disliked the most, not extending Garrett Wilson and Gardner. Now, of course, the caveat here, news could come out in five minutes that the Jets are signing both of those guys. That’s not out of the realm of possibilities. um let alone before the season actually starts which is months from now. So he goes on to say the most important part of the Jets off seasonason was them recognizing they needed to reset. I totally totally agree. It started with a full regime change. Co uh Aaron Glenn’s coach Darren Muji’s general manager a given after Woody Johnson rashly fired Salah after five games in 2024 followed up by firing GM uh Joe Douglas shortly after. In regards to Justin Fields, Walder said, “But the wise part came when the Jets took a long shot on Fields, giving them a quarterback who is probably a one-year fill in, but with upside to be more. This was preferable to trying to hang on in mediocrity with Aaron Rogers, Kurt Cousins, or Matthew Stafford, who are all at the end of their careers, and in Stafford’s case would have the uh would have to cost more than Fields.” He also highlights how the Jets invested in the offensive line, bringing in Arman Meu in round one as the top 10 pick, uh, who could obviously help the running game while also at the same time support Justin Fields at the quarterback position. You know, and this is something that we talk about a lot, which is why can’t Justin Fields be the next Gino Smith? Why can’t he be the next Sam Darnold? Right? People throw in Baker Mayfield. I don’t think Baker was in that low of a tier as Gino and Darnold where there were just you know league backups like le like guaranteed league like Sam Darnold was not going to go into San Francisco and become the starting like unseat Brock party. um he wasn’t going to do that, right? Gino Smith, we all know his story. But Baker, you always kind of felt like, hey, if he needs to play, he he definitely gives you a chance to win. There is excitement there. And even it how it ended in Cleveland, like pretty rough and just kind of rocky with the media and everything. He was hurt. He was dealing with a shoulder injury, playing through injury. You just kind of felt like, hey, he just needs to land with the right team and a coaching staff that, you know, believes in him and can give him a solid defensive playmakers and he’s going to just take off. And that’s exactly what the Buccaneers did. One year 5 mil. Definitely had to go out and compete and win the job. Uh which he did. I believe he beat out who was a Kyle Tras for that starting gig. Um I remember actually going to one of those preseason games where there was that quarterback competition. But in any case, if you want to look at Baker Mayfield being, oh, you know, another first round pick, a guy with potential, but he’s not really living up to it in his first couple destinations. Uh it it took him a couple teams for, you know, for for him to really find his home, really find his footing in the NFL. Can Justin Fields be that guy? Why can’t he? Because there’s some quarterbacks out there that you just look at and you’re like, “Yeah, the book is probably closed. Trey Lance is like that. Drew Lock is like that. I don’t think M. Jones is absolutely horrendous and unplayable, but you kind of feel like we’ve seen the best of M. Jones up to this point. But with Justin, there’s there’s flashes, there’s highlights, there’s been good games, there’s been some wins along the way. Um, why can’t he be the next reclamation project at the quarterback position? You know, and look, I it’s not to say that Justin is a top 10 quarterback or I believe he’s going I’m not going to sit here and say we found our franchise guy. We need to see it on the field because there’s things happening around him, right? Wide receiver, too, first time play caller Tanner Instram learning a new offense for the first time. Fields is not in a situation like Baker and the Bucks. He’s not in a situation like Gino and Seattle back in the day when he took over. Not in a situation with Sam Darden and the Vikings where it was like established head coach winning football games. Culture already instilled. All three coaches have made it to the playoffs before. Todd Bulls playoff team. Pete Carroll playoff team. Uh Kevin Okcono playoff team. Very good teams, you know, stars on that team. You know, think the Vikings, all the all all the great players on on the Minnesota Vikings roster. Sam Darnold’s just kind of, you know, plug and play. You have enough support around you. Baker Mayfield, Godwin, Mike Evans, the defense, the offensive line, top five, top five O line in football, right? Seattle didn’t have like the top end talent, but still very good players, DK Metaf, etc. um with fields it it’s kind of learn on the fly while at the same time Aaron Glenn is learning on the fly to be a head coach. You feel very good about Glenn’s ability and what he’s shown so far through, you know, offseason, OTAAS, press conferences, things that players have said about Glenn, whether they’re Jets or Lions or Saints or former players, whatever. You feel Glenn’s, you feel good about Glenn’s ability moving forward as head coach of this football team, like he’s qualified, he’s good enough to get the job done, become this franchise guy, this culture setter, if you will, but we haven’t seen it yet. So again, Fields maybe a bit of an uphill battle, but hey, he has an opportunity. He’s going to have this full season. He was handpicked by this Jets team. They could have drafted a quarterback. They could have signed someone else. They could have hung on to Rogers or trade for Cousins or, you know, whatever. But they chose Justin Fields 2-year deal, a decent amount of money, 30 mil guaranteed on day one of free agency. What does that tell you about, you know, where the Jets or how the Jets view Justin as a player? Pretty good. You’re not going to sign someone who you don’t like on day one of free agency and prioritize that guy at the most important position over all these other free agents. You’re just simply not going to do that. There is some belief in this Jets organization. And uh if there wasn’t, he wouldn’t have signed the Jet. there wouldn’t there wouldn’t be a contract offer or if there was probably would have been a one year $7 million deal one year 10 mil something like that incentive based contract not two years 40 with 30 guaranteed so of course we’ll see how the season plays out I’m pulling for fields I really hope that he is the answer but uh like we’ve touched on before in multiple videos it’s really a win-win for this Jet team it is right this is not looking at it uh looking at the situation through uh you know jet green tinted glasses is here. On one side of the coin, if Justin Fields works out, fantastic. You have found your guy. And what makes things even better in 2026, you already have this guy under contract on a really, really cheap deal. So, awesome, awesome situation. Again, if Fields works out, if he doesn’t, if Fields does not look like he’s the guy, there’s more questions than answers, there’s a lot of losses, just inconsistent quarterback play, doesn’t really feel like he’s picking up the offense. Well, it’s 30 mil gone. And that’s really it. You’re not on the hook for 90 mil. Think Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons. Like he’s just a backup making like top money, top quarterback money as a backup. It’s important to have good backups, but you guys know what I’m saying. Like we’re not on the hook for this, you know, mega deal. Deshawn Watson Cleveland Brown situation, right? He’s not under contract for four or five more seasons. Chances are if he’s not the guy, he will be released after the year or at the worst, he would just be the backup for the team next season. And also, if Fields does not work out, that probably means that the Jets aren’t winning a bunch of games this upcoming season. I I find it very hard to believe that the Jets would have 10 wins and then decide to move on from Justin Fields. That makes, you know, not much sense at all. So, if that’s the case, this upcoming draft class is loaded. So, if we have a top 10 pick, we could probably just land our guy there and we can just have this nice seamless transition. So, it’s a win-win for the Jets either way. It feels works out or if he doesn’t, we’re in a pretty good spot. And so, he ends the Jets section off by saying this. Two questions rem or sorry, two major questions remain. Will the Jets sign Wilson andor Gardner to extensions? Since both are coming off down seasons after previously demonstrating a lead ability, this is when the Jets should work out a deal, hoping to get a slight discount on what they may uh or what they might pay a year from now. But as with all contracts, it takes two to tango. So, I definitely disagree with Wilson having a down year here. I I think if you take a look at the numbers, it’s pretty consistent based off of what we’ve seen. And uh then you throw on top of it the major major disadvantages that Garrett had uh to work with last season, right? Does Jamar Chase have Nathaniel Hackett as the offensive coordinator? Does Justin Jefferson, take your pick, does CD Lamb, does he do they have Aaron Rogers throwing the football where he’s prioritizing throwing to his friends? In my opinion, Wilson was not disappointing last season. Gardner on the other hand was just my honest opinion, right? When you look at tackling, when you look at physicality with the football in the air, right? Way too aggressive. Jersey pull, hand pull, arm pull. um just too physical, right? Where first couple years the refs weren’t really calling it, but then for whatever reason last season they started calling it a lot more. Um and I would I felt like in most cases the refs weren’t right. I didn’t feel like it was a you know like Mike when Michael Carter picked off the ball against the Chiefs and they call this you know pass interference like I didn’t really get the sense that they were like BS calls from the refs when they were throwing flags on uh on Gardner. run support not good at all. Um, you know, not he I I felt like there were just issues with the overall physicality to Gardner’s game. Like trying to go in with these arm tackles, literally moving out of the way to try to tackle with the arm just I just didn’t really like what I saw last season. Now, he wasn’t horrible. Definitely was not horrible and still made some good plays. But, um, you know, the point that Walder is is is trying to make here is, hey, the Jets can maybe get these guys at a little bit of a bargain because of the losses and the individual performances. I I I honestly don’t think it matters all that much. I mean, we just saw JC Horn get what he got. Humongous deal. Top three highest paid corner in football. Um, and he’s been inconsistent. He’s missed games. He’s been injured. Carolina hasn’t really won a whole lot. So, how much does Horn uh contri how much does Horn contribute to winning is definitely a question. So, I I think when it’s all said and done, both of these guys will be resigned, but at the same time, I think both guys will become really really, you know, well compensated players. Garrett will be a top 10 highest paid wide receiver. Gardner I think will probably become the number one or number two highest paid corner in football somewhere in that range. Somewhere in that range for both of these guys. So anyway, let me know your thoughts down below in the comments section. Thanks so much for watching and as always, go Jets.

2025 NFL offseason grades: Draft, trades, more moves by team – https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45690070/nfl-offseason-grades-2025-free-agency-draft-trades-extensions-coaching-changes#NYJ

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Walder: “The most important part of the Jets’ offseason was them recognizing they needed to reset. It started with a full regime change — Glenn as coach and Darren Mougey as general manager — a given after Woody Johnson rashly fired Robert Saleh after five games in 2024 and followed up by firing GM Joe Douglas shortly after.
But the wise part came when the Jets took a long shot on Fields, giving them a quarterback who is probably a one-year fill-in but with the upside to be more. This was preferable to trying to hang on to mediocrity with Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins or Matthew Stafford — who are all at the end of their careers and, in Stafford’s case, would have cost more than Fields.”

Reacting To ESPN’s Off-Season Grade For The New York Jets!

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