No salary cap this season, and we have limited options as far as free agency. Not to mention Jones is a well respected leader in the club house. I hope we can get a back-up, right now our only realistic choices are LT, Westbrook, Jamal Lewis, Lamont Jordan or resigning Jones. The only other options are RFA's but as few picks as we have, I can not see them losing one while signing a RFA.
Getting Bush from the Raiders would be great but i doubt it'll happen. As far as veterans go the only guy i'd rather have then TJ would be Chester Taylor and we all know that aint gonna happen.
If the quotes about Jones from Cimini's article regarding Jones' reaction to his diminished role are to be believed, then I doubt he wants to come back here. Someone is going to give him at least a shot at the starting job somewhere so we should probably just cross him off of the list. I would much rather find a RB through the draft and continue adding youth and fresh legs. Gerhart, Blount, Dixon(UConn), Tate or Montario would all work well with this offense. If that doesn't happen then I like Mike Bell or Chester Taylor, provided we aren't restricted from them thanks to the Final Eight Rules.
I'd actually like to see Larry Johnson in green and white. He's on his last legs because Herm got a hold of him, but I think he can contribute in our offense. The guy is a tough runner and he rarely fumbles the football. Jamal Lewis would also be a nice veteran option. I don't give if he's 31 years old. He's a cold weather back that would act as a battering ram in our offense.
I think he's too beat to hell. The only upgrade over Jones that I can see is maybe the price tag. Otherwise, I can see the same problems that we saw with Jones. Remember, the OLine is going to be a year older as well. Faneca and Woody already looked like they were having some trouble sustaining their blocks for longer periods of time and I do not see the explosiveness in his game that would be needed to burst through those holes.
There's no doubt he's run down. I'm not hoping for an upgrade, I'm hoping for a proven player at the position. It'll be hard to find anyone that's anywhere near as productive as Thomas Jones in free agency. I want someone to take on Shonn Greene's early 2009 role in the offense: a strong, powerful runner that can give our starter(s) a breather and do a little bit of damage as a minimal substitution. Remember, whoever we sign is going to be our third option at running back...I'd be happy with a guy that can get 3 to 3.5 YPC.
I understand you are not looking for a starter to fill Jones' shoes from the beginning of the season, but I think we can get a dependable veteran with a little bit more explosiveness and than Johnson. We still have Leon coming off a major injury and Greene's running style is going to lend himself to some injuries so whoever we bring in should be able to fill Greene's role for maybe a half, maybe a full game. I don't see that with Johnson. If Greene plays every game this season, great, but I don't think it will serve the Jets well to be banking on that idea.
I think Larry Johnson has something to prove. I just have a feeling he's got one more halfway decent year in him. He'll be reunited with his good friend Tony Richardson, and he'll finally be able to play behind a offensive line that isn't just a bunch of trashcans lined up on the field. Johnson's 4.4 YPC last year playing behind Benson intrigues me. I think he's got another 450-500 yards in the tank.
How did you get 4.4? According to NFL.com's stats I have him with EDIT: 3.78 YPC last season behind Benson which was helped a lot by an outlier production of 8.8 YPC against the Chargers in week 15.
Straight from Yahoo Sports: In 7 games with the Bengals: 46 carries for 204 yards. (4.4 YPC) In 7 games with the Chiefs: 132 carries for 377 yards. (3.2 YPC) NFL.com has 4.4 YPC too? Larry Johnson also rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries against the Browns when Cedric Benson was injured.
So are you suggesting that bringing a vet in is better than cutting the vet we already had? Tanny must be out of his mind?
Theyre suggesting that bringing in a vet for 1-2 million is better than paying the vet we had over 7 million.
You guys are missing the point with the TJ cut. It's not just the money. It is his age and his clear decline at the end of last year and the money. RB is a young man's position. RB production falls off a cliff at some point after age 30. Why pay for past production, even in an uncapped year? The Jets should not replace one fading vet (TJ) for another (LT or LJ). Fill the 3rd spot with a younger back, even a free agent. Frankly, experience means nothing at the RB position and rookies tend to be more successful than 30 year olds.
I'm not sure who will be available but as much as I like Greene it's going to take more then a great playoffs. He's going to need to prove he can stay healthy. When you consider how many games he and Leon missed last year we certainly have serious questions at RB.
What kind of question is this? No, I want to play with 2 RB's and if they go down, put Kellen Clemens in the backfield. You gotta be kidding me right? He was cut for the money, not his age, 30+ backup RB is fine
We can't pay anybody anything so why do people even talk about things like this? If we are luck enough to have a couple of our FAs sign with other teams we won't waste that money on overage RBs.
