New York Jets

Subterms

    More stories

    • 113 Shares179 Views

      in Football

      Quarterback Keeper? Jets, Browns and Bears Face Contract Decisions

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrend WatchQuarterback Keeper? Jets, Browns and Bears Face Contract DecisionsSam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Mitchell Trubisky have all been marginally impressive at times. But is that enough for their teams to sign them to salary-cap-straining contracts?Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, right, and Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns have each made their teams’ decisions about extending their contracts trickier by playing well — but not that well — over the last few weeks.Credit…Bill Kostroun/Associated PressDec. 30, 2020, 3:00 a.m. ETThe most pivotal decision an N.F.L. team must make is often not drafting the right quarterback but determining the right thing to do with the quarterback it drafted a few years ago.The Jets and Sam Darnold are reaching a crossroads. The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears are facing similar decisions with Baker Mayfield and Mitchell Trubisky. Should these teams offer their marginally impressive, often disappointing young starters budget-burdening contracts or send them away and start over again?There is no middle ground. If there exists a compensation package for a former first-round quarterback that lands somewhere between nine-figure golden handcuffs and bus fare out of town, N.F.L. front offices have yet to discover it.Darnold, Mayfield and Trubisky have all made their teams’ decisions trickier by playing well — but not that well — over the past few weeks. Darnold has led the Jets to back-to-back victories. Mayfield threw 10 touchdowns and just one interception in a four-game stretch that ended when a coronavirus outbreak left him throwing to scout-team wide receivers in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. Trubisky has completed over 70 percent of his passes and thrown six touchdowns while leading the Bears to three straight victories, albeit against a trio of scuffling opponents.All three quarterbacks could be showing signs of improvement at the end of their third (Darnold and Mayfield) and fourth (Trubisky) N.F.L. seasons. Or their warm streaks may simply be random fluctuations caused by the quality of their opponents, some lucky bounces and heavily tempered expectations.Trubisky is just a few weeks removed from being benched in favor of Nick Foles. Mayfield behaved as if he were his own internet troll at times last year and struggled against quality defenses early in this season. Darnold is graded on the Jets curve: Showing up and trying his hardest guarantees at least a C-plus.The contracts of first-round draft picks come with built-in fifth-year team options: The player gets a hefty raise (Darnold’s base salary, for example, would jump from roughly $920,000 in 2021 to around $25 million in 2022), while the team gets an extra year of evaluation/procrastination. So the Jets and the Browns could delay their final decisions on Darnold and Mayfield until 2022. But exercising a quarterback’s fifth-year option is like asking a fiancé to postpone the wedding until they finish graduate school: perhaps prudent, but an undeniable sign of one’s true feelings.Team politics also typically play a large role in determining a young quarterback’s fate. Newly hired coaches are rarely eager to repair the prospect who helped get the last coach fired.The Chicago Bears famously traded up in the 2017 N.F.L. draft to select Mitchell Trubisky, center, when Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were still on the board.Credit…Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe next Jets head coach is likely to approach undoing Adam Gase’s handiwork the way Batman defuses one of The Joker’s time bombs: The safest bet is to just hurl everything into Gotham River. So if the Jets keep Darnold, it may be only as a lame-duck place holder while his rookie replacement learns the playbook. Under such circumstances, a trade or release could provide both the Jets and Darnold a much-needed fresh start.The Bears declined Trubisky’s fifth-year option last off-season, so he enters 2021 as a free agent, leaving the team with several expensive, suboptimal choices. Franchise tagging Trubisky would cost the Bears more than the nearly $32 million one-year salary that Dak Prescott earned from the Dallas Cowboys’ indecision this season. A long-term contract may cost around $118 million over four years, as indicated by Ryan Tannehill’s contract with the Tennessee Titans. The cap-strapped Bears would struggle to afford either choice, neither of which Trubisky has earned.Front-office politics could also play a role in the Bears’ decision. General Manager Ryan Pace famously traded a bundle of mid-round draft picks to the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 to select Trubisky when Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were still on the board. An executive who admits such a huge mistake rarely gets the chance to make another one. All the more reason to pretend that Trubisky is a late-blooming Aaron Rodgers.Mayfield has outperformed Darnold and Trubisky, overcoming many youthful bad habits while leading the Browns to their first winning record since 2007. That makes the team’s next decision even more perilous. Mayfield appears to be in line for a contract in the $32 million to $40 million range per year, like those signed by Watson, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz in recent years. (Mahomes’s $500 million contract, like his entire career so far, belongs in its own category).The Eagles, of course, have benched Wentz in favor of the rookie Jalen Hurts. But Wentz’s huge contract will make trading him like trying to sell a Lamborghini with 48 remaining payments after it was hit by a train. And Goff is the football equivalent of a $40 hamburger. Watson has played well in hopeless circumstances, and not every mammoth quarterback contract brings instant regret. But if the Browns choose to overpay Mayfield for “good enough,” they are likely to get precisely what they bargained for.It’s easy to suggest that any team that is not completely satisfied with its young quarterback’s development should cut bait and dip instead into next year’s deep pool of can’t-miss rookies. But Darnold, Trubisky, Mayfield, Wentz and Goff all came from similar can’t-miss pools. If selecting and developing a franchise quarterback were easy, multiple teams would not face this predicament each year.Ultimately, the Jets will probably trade or release Darnold; Mayfield should get Goff/Wentz money from the Browns; the Bears will find a solution to the Trubisky conundrum that makes sense only to the Bears; and everyone will wish they had selected Mahomes when they had the chance. The whole cycle will just begin anew next year when the Giants try to figure out what to do with Daniel Jones.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Football

      Opting Out of the N.F.L. Brings No Regret for This Jets Lineman

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Stimulus DealThe Latest Vaccine InformationF.A.Q.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOpting Out of the N.F.L. Brings No Regret for This Jets LinemanLeo Koloamatangi says he misses his team, even in a dreadful season, and that he has wondered what he might have accomplished this year. But he finds comfort in knowing his family is at a lower risk.Leo Koloamatangi at his dining room table in Fontana, Calif., this summer.Credit…Christian Monterrosa for The New York TimesDec. 27, 2020, 1:00 a.m. ETThe New York Times Sports department is revisiting the subjects of some compelling articles from the last year or so. Here is our August report on N.F.L. players who opted out of the league during the coronavirus pandemic.Like so many people during these turbulent times, Leo Koloamatangi finds comfort in his routines. And so every Sunday and Monday — and in this upended N.F.L. season, most Thursdays, plus the odd Tuesday and Wednesday — he has watched other people do what he loves most.From his Southern California home, Koloamatangi, 26, cheers for his friends around the league, and for his team, the Jets, longing to be on the sideline with the men he calls his brothers. He had a choice. He could have joined them, practiced with them, prepared with them, muddled through 13 losses with them before they got their first win.But not this season.Not during a pandemic that had already killed two close relatives when he made his decision, and not when he had a young daughter, Aurora, and when his wife, Athena, was in the early stages of pregnancy. Along with 67 other players, Koloamatangi, an offensive lineman, opted out before the N.F.L. season, sacrificing career development and potential glory for his family’s well-being.When Koloamatangi spoke with The Times in August, he called that decision the hardest of his life. In early December, he called this year his hardest as a football player. He also said he had no regrets.“I have this overwhelming sense of accountability, to my family and myself personally,” Koloamatangi said. “I’m very grateful that I can play in the N.F.L. and compete at the highest level, and there’s nothing more that I’d want to do than satisfy my job. But because of what I must protect and who I have to look over and look after, my position was to sit out and watch the season play out.”Amid growing restrictions in California, he has hunkered down. Koloamatangi wishes he could have had a large Polynesian party for Aurora’s first birthday last month, and he wonders what might have happened if he had not opted out.Over three seasons, he had pinballed between the active rosters of the Detroit Lions and the Jets, never appearing in a regular-season game. He might have gotten his chance this season, as practice squads expanded to 16 players from 12 to account for Covid-related roster shortfalls.That is how Kendall Hinton, a practice-squad wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, got his first official N.F.L. snaps, stepping in to play quarterback in a game against the Saints after all four of the regular QBs were exposed to the coronavirus.“There are lot of guys out there who have opportunities in front of them because of Covid,” Koloamatangi said. “Times like this, it’s great for players like that. And quite honestly, players like me.”Koloamatangi in August feeding his daughter, Aurora, who was then 9 months old. Credit…Christian Monterrosa for The New York TimesAs transmission rates surge across the country, the number of positive cases in the N.F.L. has also swelled, but the season has continued, often in uncomfortable ways. Outbreaks rampaged through the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens, sickening not only players and staff members but also family members. And although most players who were infected have returned, at least two have endured serious complications — Buffalo tight end Tommy Sweeney, who has the heart condition myocarditis, and Jacksonville running back Ryquell Armstead, who was reportedly hospitalized twice.League officials have maintained that no evidence exists of players transmitting the virus on the field. But when Koloamatangi opted out, he fully expected to contract the virus, in part because his position requires nearly constant close contact in games and at practices.“If somebody told me, ‘Covid’s going to have a huge impact on our schedule and our practicing and how we meet, but you and your family wouldn’t contract the virus,’ I think I would have went,” Koloamatangi said. “But because no one really had an answer, we didn’t know what to anticipate. There was no way for me to guarantee personal protection over my family.”As per an agreement between the league and its players’ union, Koloamatangi received a $150,000 advance on next year’s salary — not a small sum of money, but a fraction of the $750,000 he would have made.His family does not have an extravagant lifestyle — “we really only splurge on our kids,” he said — and has been able to manage the financial burden well enough. He and Athena give each other time to themselves every day, and Koloamatangi often spends his in their garage. There, he recently installed a deluxe gym, replete with weight machines, a full power rack and a force plate, and he is confident that, after the longest off-season of his career, he will return a superior athlete. That soothes him.He is not naïve enough to think that his presence on the Jets would have prevented them from hurtling toward one of the worst seasons in franchise history. But, he said, he feels as responsible for their swoon as anyone on the roster.So every week, when Koloamatangi watches the Jets play, he thinks about them and their families. He thinks about the pain they must be experiencing this season, and he thinks about how next season he hopes to see them again. Afterward, he sits with Athena and tells her how grateful he is for all their time together.“I’m just looking at her like, ‘I wish I could be there, I need to be there,’” Koloamatangi said. “It’s something that I’m definitely excited to rekindle once I get back. But it’s hard, you know?”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 88 Shares169 Views

      in Football

      Jets’ First Win May Cost the Future

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyjets 23, rams 20Jets’ First Win May Cost the FutureThe Jets beat the Los Angeles Rams for their improbable first win of the season, but the victory may give the Jacksonville Jaguars the top pick in the 2021 N.F.L. draft.Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, right, celebrated an 18-yard touchdown pass to running back Ty Johnson on the team’s first drive of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.Credit…Ashley Landis/Associated PressDec. 20, 2020Updated 8:55 p.m. ETThe Jets did the seemingly unthinkable on Sunday. They won.In perhaps the biggest upset of the season, the formerly winless Jets (1-13) knocked off the Los Angeles Rams (9-5) in convincing fashion, building a 17-point lead in the third quarter and then holding off the Rams’ high-powered offense to win their first game of the season, 23-20, in Inglewood, Calif.The Jets’ victory, their first since the final week of last season, came after a tumultuous 2020 campaign that has seen the team juggle quarterbacks, fire their defensive coordinator and fend off calls for Coach Adam Gase to be sent packing. Amid all the misery, including the league’s worst offense, Jets fans took solace in the possibility that a winless season could secure the first pick in the N.F.L. draft next spring. Now that is in doubt.Given their knack for blowing winnable games, the Jets’ victory on Sunday was as improbable as any this season. The Rams, who are battling the Seattle Seahawks for the N.F.C. West crown, were 17-point favorites playing on their home field. The Jets were blown out by the Seahawks last week in Seattle, and had to crisscross the country this week. At least on paper, they should have been exhausted.But the Jets scored on their first drives of the first and second halves and held a 13-3 lead at halftime. The Jets’ offense wasn’t flashy and seemed mostly intent on not making mistakes. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold shook off early jitters, completing 22 of 31 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown, and led the Jets on three drives of 10 or more plays to use big chunks of the clock and keep the Rams’ offense off the field.“It means the world to us to come in here, back-to-back West Coast trips, we weren’t able to stay on the West Coast because of Covid,” Darnold said after the game. “We did our jobs this week.”The Jets became the first winless team in N.F.L. history to win on the road against an opponent with nine or more victories.They also have fallen behind in the race for the top pick in next year’s draft, something that will leave their win-starved fans with mixed feelings. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who lost to the Baltimore Ravens by 26 points on Sunday and are also 1-13, would hold the tiebreaker in the draft over the Jets if the two teams end the season with the same record, a nightmare scenario for Jets fans who have tried to find a silver lining in all the losing.Other winless teams won their first games even later in the season than the Jets did; most recently the 2016 Cleveland Browns notched their first (and only) win in their 15th game.The Jets have had scrapes with victory recently. Two weeks ago, they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders on the second-to-last play of the game. But on Sunday, they played not like a team tanking to get the first pick in next year’s draft — as some desperate Jets fans were banking on — but like a young team that finally didn’t hurt itself.The Jets were 7 of 17 on third downs, running back Frank Gore ran the ball 23 times for 59 yards and one score, and wide receiver Jamison Crowder caught six passes for 66 yards.The Jets’ defense was the bigger story, holding Rams quarterback Jared Goff to 209 yards passing. Rookie cornerback Bryce Hall intercepted Goff midway through the second quarter and returned the ball to the Rams’ 22-yard line. The Jets added a field goal five plays later.Earlier in the quarter, J.T. Hassell blocked a Rams punt that led to another Jets field goal.On the final drive of the game, with the Rams out of timeouts, Darnold withstood a fierce pass rush and completed a 6-yard pass to Gore for a first down. After the two-minute warning, the Jets did something they hadn’t done since last season: The offense lined up in the victory formation and Darnold took a knee three times to run out the clock and seal the win.But the Jets being the Jets, they worried that they might still fail to salt away the game.“I don’t think I paid attention to the victory formations as much as I did this game because I was just making sure we were good, didn’t want anything going on,” Gase said after the game. “It’s been a while since we’ve been in that.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Football

      Russell Wilson Throws Four Touchdowns in Three Quarters in Win Over the Jets

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySeahawks 40, Jets 3Russell Wilson Throws Four Touchdowns in Three Quarters in Win Over the JetsThe Seahawks rebounded from a loss to the Giants last week, while the Jets’ losing streak reached a franchise record 13 games.Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf had six catches for 61 yards and a touchdown, which he celebrated with one of the TV cameras.Credit…Ted S. Warren/Associated PressDec. 13, 2020Updated 8:51 p.m. ETSEATTLE (AP) — Russell Wilson threw four touchdowns passes to give him a new career-high with 36 for the season before resting in the fourth quarter, leading the Seattle Seahawks to a 40-3 rout of the Jets on Sunday.Seattle (9-4) rebounded exactly as it had hoped after its surprisingly poor offensive performance last week in a loss to the Giants. They stayed even with the Los Angeles Rams (9-4), who beat the Patriots (6-7) on Thursday, on top of the N.F.C. West.Wilson threw touchdowns to Freddie Swain and DK Metcalf in the first half and added touchdown tosses to Will Dissly and David Moore in the third quarter. It was his fifth game this season with at least four touchdown passes. His previous career high in touchdown passes came in 2018.Metcalf commandeered a TV broadcast camera as part of his celebration after catching a 5-yard scoring pass in the second quarter, his 10th of the season.Wilson finished 21 of 27 for 206 yards and checked out late in the third quarter, giving way to the former Jets quarterback Geno Smith for his first action since joining Seattle last season. Wilson’s only mistake was a forced throw in the first half that the Jets’ Marcus Maye caught for a terrific juggling interception.Wilson had played every snap of the previous 49 games for Seattle. The last time he wasn’t under center was Week 15 of 2017 when Seattle lost 42-7 to the Rams. It was also a rare blowout for Seattle. The Seahawks had just one win by more than 14 points in the past two seasons. “We took on the challenge, kept our heads down to just stay focused on what we need to do and our execution,” Wilson said. “It was a great day today.”For the Jets, it was another miserable day in their forgettable season. Days after firing defensive coordinator Gregg Williams after a collapse at the end of last week’s loss to Las Vegas, the Jets (0-13) showed little resistance on defense and little excitement on offense as they lost their 13th consecutive game, a franchise record.And even when the Jets had chances to score, kicker Sergio Castillo struggled. After converting a 45-yard attempt on the Jets’ opening drive, Castillo missed attempts of 37, 41 and 43 yards in the first half. Quarterback Sam Darnold was 14 of 26 for 132 yards.“This one got away from us very quickly and when you have chances against a team like this, you’ve got to take advantage of them or this is what the outcome’s going to be,” Jets Coach Adam Gase said.In just about the only bright spot for the Jets, they extended their streak of scoring on their opening drive to seven straight games, the longest active streak in the N.F.L. and the longest in franchise history.The Jets became the ninth team since the A.F.L.-N.F.L. merger to start a season with 13 straight losses. Three of those teams had winless seasons.“Losing’s not fun. We’ve just got to be better,” Darnold said.Seattle’s Jamal Adams, the former Jets safety, set a record for most sacks by a defensive back in a single season, breaking the previous mark of eight by Adrian Wilson in 2005. He had been credited with a sack after forcing Darnold to run out of bounds for a loss in the second quarter, giving him 8 1/2 for the season.“I’m trying to shatter it, to be real with you,” Adams said. “This is just a start.”Adams spent a significant amount of time postgame in a receiving line of hugs and handshakes with his former Jets teammates and coaches, including Gase.“Seeing so many guys, it just brings back a lot of memories because I do miss those guys,” Adams said. “This is bigger than football. It goes back to just relationships.”The Jets will be back on the West Coast next Sunday to face the Rams.Seahawks will make the last of its East Coast trips next week, traveling to play Washington (6-7) on Sunday.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Football

      What Was the Jets' Gregg Williams Thinking on His Final Play Call?

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyKeeping ScoreWhat Were the Jets Thinking?The Jets looked to have their first win of the season sewn up. But a decision to send an all-out blitz against the Raiders on the final play handed Las Vegas the game-winning touchdown.The Jets’ defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, called for an all-out blitz on the final play of Sunday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, a tactical error that looks to have cost him his job.Credit…Julio Cortez/Associated PressBy More

    • 75 Shares159 Views

      in Football

      NFL Week 13: What We Learned

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat We Learned From Week 13 of the N.F.L. SeasonThe Jets found a new way to lose, the Giants shocked the Seahawks and the Browns held on for a huge win over the Titans.Needing a touchdown to win in the game’s final seconds, Henry Ruggs of the Raiders ran right past Lamar Jackson of the Jets for a 46-yard score and a shocking Las Vegas victory.Credit…Noah K. Murray/Associated PressBy More

    • 113 Shares159 Views

      in Football

      Jets Let Raiders, and a First Win, Slip By

      by

      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRaiders 31, Jets 28Jets Let Raiders, and a First Win, Slip ByThe Jets had Sunday’s game firmly in hand with a 4-point lead over Las Vegas and 35 seconds remaining. Then a baffling defensive assignment by the Jets gave the Raiders one last chance to score.Raiders quarterback Derek Carr found Henry Ruggs III in single coverage and connected on a game-winning touchdown to keep the Jets winless Sunday.Credit…Al Bello/Getty ImagesBy More