5 Year Analysis of Jets by a Fan

This is a pretty good PDF report done by a fan of the Jets.

Gary Sparago has compiled 32 pages of PDF goodness starting with one premise: "is this organization better off than they were 5 years ago?"

Jets Cap for 2006

2006 Jets Salary Cap Page

From the Jets Blog:

Jets 2006 Salary Cap Q&A

Caveat: I'll try to answer your questions, but understand I have no inside knowledge of the organization and these are purely my opinion.

Looking at the cap for the Jets.... what players are they pretty much bound to get rid of?

I think that Fabini and Kendall are on the fence, depending on who we draft. If we take a OL, then one of them is most likely gone. Ty Law is a goner. Fiedler doesn't figure into the plans most likely, they wouldn't want 2 QB's coming off shoulder surgery. Abraham at this point may be gone. Woody is reluctant to give him a big payday after being burned by Pennington. At this point Mawae should be back but monitor his status as he recovers

Looking at the cap for the Jets... what players are they bound to keep (handcuffed to), due to their contracts?

Pennington is the big one. I would expect after the season the organization will sit down with him and try to restructure his contract. Chad is a standup guy and he may do it, but he is not bound to it. His cap hit in 2006 is already at $12 Million. If they cut him it will cost about the same, but will have to find a replacement and still pay the new QB and take the $12 Million hit. Curtis Martin is the other, he is due about $8 Million, but don't be surprised if he takes a pay cut as well. He will most likely split time with a rookie next year.It's pretty much a certainty that the Jets will cut Law...

How will the Law dump work exactly? I guess they would cut him before March, but how much will they owe him?

They owe him nothing. He is due a bonus somewhere around $11 Million, but there is no way he ever sees that. He did take a $3 Million signing bonus this year, so we will take a small hit on that. They will simply cut him before the bonus is due.Which of the season opening starters on the O-Line who can they afford keep? (Fabini, Kendall, Mawae, Moore, Jones)
They can afford to keep them all, however performance and not money willbe the deciding factor here, along with the draft.

Based on pay, who is more likely to be cut? Cedric Houston or Derrick Blaylock?

Neither they'll both be back.

If the Jets end up with a top 5 pick, about how much room on the capwill they have to slot for a pick like that?

Depends on the position. QB's are generally given more $$, however I don't believe they will draft Leinart. They don't want to put that much money in one position. The NFL uses a 'rookie pool of dollars', which basically tells each team how much they can spend on all their rookies, drafted and undrafted. It is derived from the # of picks they have, their draft position, and other factors. I have no idea how it works and neither do most club officials. The pool is generally between $2 Million and $6 Million.

PICTURE: Christmas Eve

 

The final race for Reggie Bush

After the world watches the ball drop in New York City's Times Square on Saturday night, attention shifts to San Francisco to see if Houston will drop the ball on Sunday afternoon.

It's the Reggie Bush Bowl and five teams have a chance to win. The Texans are in the lead by being the most awful bunch of 53 in the NFL through the first 16 weeks.

But the 3-12 Jets have a fighting chance at turning 2005 into something we can remember . . . for positive reasons.

Jets fans will be at Giants Stadium or in front of their television sets for what amounts to the greatest philosophical debate of the 21st century.
Do we root for victory to end the 2005 season and start the 2006 calendar with a modicum of happiness?

Or, do we begin the B-I-L-L-S BILLS! BILLS! BILLS! chant and egg on a 13th loss for our Jets in the hopes of getting the No. 1 draft pick?

This is a tenuous predicament.

The Jets are still alive in the race for USC running back Reggie Bush, the most electrifying college football player in the last 30 years.

Ordinarily, advocating team failure is grounds for immediate dismissal from fandom. But, Bush is far from ordinary.

The inverted standings look like this:

Team Rec SOS
Texans 2-13 .533
Saints 3-12 .517
Jets 3-12 .533
Packers 3-12 .542
49ers 3-12 .546

On the first calendar day of 2006, the NFL will send fans in five cities into a tizzy.
If all five teams finish at 3-13, a distinct possibility, then any one of them can earn the No. 1 pick. It's all based on strength of schedule.

In order to figure out a team's SOS, add up the records of all 16 teams they played. (Yes, count divisional opponents' records twice.)

The lower the strength of schedule, the higher the draft pick.
Of course, the Texans could just as easily lose this weekend to the 49ers, rendering all this pointless. The 2-13 Texans are 0-7 on the road. This is not good.

(Secretly, Jets fans are hoping the Texans still believe in their running back, Domanick Davis, and not their quarterback, David Carr. Or, maybe they believe in both and will draft an offensive lineman -- most likely Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson from Freeport. Trading the pick is unthinkable, or at least, that's what Jets fans want to believe, just in case the Jets don't get the No. 1 spot.)

The mathematical equations are far too macrocosmic right now to determine who will lock up the No. 1 pick if all five teams finish at 3-13. Call NASA. Call Elias Sports Bureau. Call John Nash from "A Beautiful Mind."

They will all say the same thing: "Call me on Sunday night."

However, there are still a few things Jets fans can root for in Week 17:
* Oakland to lose. The Raiders are one of three teams the Jets played but the other four didn't. (The other two are San Diego and Denver, which play each other on Saturday.)
* The G-Men! In-town rivals be damned. If the Giants can win at Oakland, the Jets' SOS decreases while the Saints' and 49ers' increases. Ti-ki! Ti-ki! Ti-ki!
* Chicago to beat Minnesota. This would increase the 49ers' SOS. The Packers would add two wins and two losses, and the Saints would add one and one, so it's virtual washout.
* One more bit of magic from Brett Favre. If the Packers can get that fourth win by beating visiting Seattle, they would be out of the running. The Texans and 49ers would appreciate the dip in SOS, but the Saints wouldn't enjoy their uptick.

It's going to be a maddening conclusion to a painful season in green.

Kevin Mawae Emailed Me Back!

Kevin Mawae to Erik:

Erik,
God Bless you and your family
this time of the year.
Have a great Christmas,

Kevin

Original Message:

Kevin - I completely agree with your last statement:

In the event I don't update this before CHRISTMAS....MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year. ( Caps for emphasis, because this is CHRISTmas...He's the reason this time of the year became so important in the first place!)

Too many people today forget or do not even know the real reason for this time of year. Missed your play at C this season, see you next year!

Erik

Kevin's Page on NFL
Kevin's Journal (where I read his message and sent him an email from)

Powell in Wilkes-Barre - I went on Tuesday to See Him

I had tickets to see Colin Powell at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday Sponsored by Wilkes University. I thought he is a very good speaker. He spoke about Leadership and the War.

Read the full story:
http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=3063

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15705341&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6