The New York Jets 2014 Free Agent Signings Analysis

The New York Jets do enough in the off season to win the AFC East?  The New York Jets in-depth analysis of the free agents signed and players lost for the 2014 NFL season. Will these additions help The New York Jets turn around their 2013 season and win the AFC East in 2014?

 

The New York Jets finished out of the playoff race but put together a strong finish to offset he roller coaster year of rookie QB Geno Smith. The Jets finished the 2013 season with a record of 8-8, which could have easily been 6-10 if not for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots getting game changing penalties called on them that handed the Jets a win in both games. The Jets looked great defending the run and looked great running the ball, ranked 6th in the league. They looked horrible in the secondary and getting a pass rush. The two things required in the ever evolving “pass happy” NFL and they do both horrible. Read my article, 2014 New York Jets NFL Draft Report Card and Player Analysis and see why I thought the Jets had a horrible, boring draft day.

Impact from the free agent signings and losses

The Jets lost two key offensive linemen, G Vladimir Ducasse and T Austin Howard. They replaced Howard with Seattle free agent T Breno Giacomini. Not sure if this was an upgrade or a parallel move, but one thing is certain, penalties are about to increase as Breno draws flags like cow-patties draw flies. The Jets also lost CB Antonio Cromartie, not sure why this happened cause he only signed a $4 million dollar, one year deal with the Cardinals and that seems like cheap money to spend on a guy who understands the system and is a leader in the secondary. They replaced Cromartie with often injured Dimitri Patterson. Again, is this a parallel move or a downgrade, only time will tell. The Jets finally close the chapter on the Mark Sanchez years. But they open the book on the Michael Vick days. Vick is probably an upgrade but I think Sanchez got screwed over by too many offensive coordinators and no talent in the receiver corps. Vick most likely will be the starting QB as I can't see Rex Ryan putting his money on a fairly INT prone QB like Geno Smith. With the additions of WRs Eric Decker and Jacoby Ford, Vick has two receivers that can catch the ball and upgrades the Jets offense immediately. Signing RB Chris Johnson was a monster move and now the triple tandem running game can be a force unto itself and is exactly the type of game that suits a strong Jets defense.

Players lost in the off season to other teams

• Antonio Cromartie, CB--8th season, signed by The Arizona Cardinals


• Vladimir Ducasse, G--4th season, signed by The Minnesota Vikings


• Austin Howard, T--4th season, signed by The Oakland Raiders


• Mark Sanchez, QB--5th season, signed by The Philadelphia Eagles


• J.B. Shugarts, T--Rookie, signed by The Detroit Lions


• Isaiah Trufant, DB--3rd season, signed by The Cleveland Browns

Players signed in free agency from other teams

• Eric Decker, WR--4th season, signed from The Denver Broncos


• Jacoby Ford, WR--4th season, signed from The Oakland Raiders


• Breno Giacomini, T--6th season, signed from The Seattle Seahawks


• Chris Johnson, RB--6th season, signed from The Tennessee Titans


• Dimitri Patterson, CB--7th season, signed from The Miami Dolphins


• Michael Vick, QB--12th season, signed from The The Philadelphia Eagles

Can The New York Jets make it to the playoffs in 2014?

I think the Jets may improve this year but I think The Miami Dolphins are the team to beat in the AFC East. The Jets should have taken WR Brandin Cooks rather than Safety Calvin Pryor. That would have given them a deep threat, speedy receiver to complement the addition of Eric Decker. The Jets also confused me why they didn't bid on Philadelphia Eagles WR DeSean Jackson. Knowing they wanted Vick, this was the ultimate puzzle to me. Vick has instant rapport with Djax. The Jets had plenty of room to afford Djax and would have been a worthwhile gamble. He was the player that could have taken them to the playoffs. I expect the Jets to have a very similar year to 2013. Lucky wins with devastating road losses. The Jets could have also signed CB Darrelle Revis which was another odd move. Looking at the signings and draft picks, GM Idzik seems to be doing just enough to justify saying he tried to get a winning team on the field and just short of giving Rex Ryan the ultimate players. I think Idzik will fire Ryan at the end of 2014 and bring in Seattle offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell. OC Bevell has been an offensive coordinator with the Vikings from 2006-2010 and the Seattle coordinator from 2010-2013 and has earned a head coaching job after being in the league for 14 seasons.