The Odd Man Out: Matt Forte

[Tony MaC]

As I sit here bored out of my mind waiting for the waning days before training camp to be over (Friday!) I started thinking about how young the team have is and how few aging vets we have on roster. We only have four players over the age of thirty, journeyman QB Josh McCown, Tanner Purdum, Long Snapper extraordinaire, okay starting Nose Tackle until or unless he's not Steve McLendon, and... Matt Forte.

Forte, a man that's only been to the playoffs once in his career, came to a team that had his former Bear buddy Brandon Marshall on it that just barely missed the dance. He was meant to help maintain the success of a winning team if not help put that team over the top by complimenting the capable WR duo of Decker and Marshall. Instead he was part of a trend of underperforming well paid veterans as he turned in the lowest amount of rushing and receiving yards in his career making no impact in a terribly disappointing season.

Now we're a team almost 100% committed to youth and I'm left wondering... why is he on this team?

I say this as rhetorical question, I know full well WHY he's on the team- there's no cap savings if he's cut and since he isn't a locker room headache and there aren't any young RB's being held down by him being on the roster (as far as we can tell) we may as well keep him around another year.

But just thematically, he sticks out like a sore thumb the more I look at our roster. That's not just because he's old mind you, but because he's the last albatross from a team trying in vain to "win now" on a team that is more concerned about tomorrow.

And its awkward. DAMN awkward.

At Least McCown knew what he signed up for, he's here to be a bridge QB on a growing team and nothing more. This team was likely Forte's last chance at being on a relevant team, he could have gone to the Pats. Instead he's on a rebuilding team that, unless he put up gaudy numbers or supported a young QB in irreplaceable manner, will cut him by next winter.

And he's the ONLY guy like that. In some ways I feel bad for him. But really I'm just curious what kind of season he turns in. He doesn't strike me as the type to mope but this has to be hanging over his head right?

 

 

 

[Fantasy Island]

Matt Forte and the veer are going to lead us to the playoffs.

[AFJF]

Wonder if they'll use Forte to avoid over-using powell and McGuire in a lost season.

[Warfish]

Forte should have been cut.  Retaining him is stupid, no matter what the cap obsessives say, he does nothing good for the team in 17' or going forward.  Every snap he takes should be taken by someone else who might have a future here.

[Barton]

5 hours ago, AFJF said:

Wonder if they'll use Forte to avoid over-using powell and McGuire in a lost season.

Thats the only logical reason I can think of.

[thadude]

1 hour ago, Warfish said:

Forte should have been cut.  Retaining him is stupid, no matter what the cap obsessives say, he does nothing good for the team in 17' or going forward.  Every snap he takes should be taken by someone else who might have a future here.

So you want another $5 million in dead cap room in addition to the $19 mil in dead cap room?  And this is to send a message?

[thadude]

Forte was another in a long line of crappy moves by Macagnan unfortunately we are stuck with this dud one more season 

[ASH1962]

Have no fear, our HC will use Forte to give us the best chance to win 

[Larz]

These QBs will have little time to throw to the crappy WRs.

The plan is to run it and dump it off to the TEs and RBs

This is not a mystery and is not awkward.

C'mon peeps

[thadude]

22 minutes ago, ASH1962 said:

Have no fear, our HC will use Forte to give us the best chance to win 

Maybe he'll bring back the immortal Steve Ridley and make him our featured back again

[thadude]

14 minutes ago, Larz said:

These QBs will have little time to throw to the crappy WRs.

The plan is to run it and dump it off to the TEs and RBs

This is not a mystery and is not awkward.

C'mon peeps

I feel bad for Enunwa and Robby Anderson

[BigO]

Why is Forte on this team? At this juncture of his career, he is the perfect RB to ensure a top 3 pick.  He doesn't have elite speed, or any for that matter. He's a finess back who struggled last year behind a mediocre OL (more of that to come this year). He had 6 decent games and barely played after the bye. He's already been paid so even if you cut him you'd have to replace him which would just increase the payroll.  Best case scenario, run him until his wheels fall off.  Maybe hopefully through some divine intervention, Forte prays to the football gods, plays well early and is traded to a contender, rendering us a 6th pick for our 7th. ?‍♂️

[Joe Jets fan]

You people are unreal some days. 

Forte is a pass catching RB who was not thrown the ball and ran up the middle over and over again. The OC was a darn stubborn idiot who had no idea how to use a RB like Forte or a TE for that matter. 

 

He should have been a great help to this team. He still can be just by helping the kids at QB if the new OC has any clue. 

[Jet Nut]

15 minutes ago, BigO said:

Why is Forte on this team? At this juncture of his career, he is the perfect RB to ensure a top 3 pick.  He doesn't have elite speed, or any for that matter. He's a finess back who struggled last year behind a mediocre OL (more of that to come this year). He had 6 decent games and barely played after the bye. He's already been paid so even if you cut him you'd have to replace him which would just increase the payroll.  Best case scenario, run him until his wheels fall off.  Maybe hopefully through some divine intervention, Forte prays to the football gods, plays well early and is traded to a contender, rendering us a 6th pick for our 7th. ?‍♂️

Ran for over 800 yards, just under 4 per, with a bad OL, no QB threat and 30 receptions while playing parts of the season injured.

You need at least 3 backs in camp.  If he ends the preseason playing like the 4th you can release him.  Hes still a great receiving RB.  When they used him that way the offense was much better.  

For some nonsensical reason Jet fans want their insurance fall back cut before the season starts  As JJF says above, people here are unreal.

[BigO]

5 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

Ran for over 800 yards, just under 4 per, with a bad OL, no QB threat and 30 receptions while playing parts of the season injured.

You need at least 3 backs in camp.  If he ends the preseason playing like the 4th you can release him.  Hes still a great receiving RB.  When they used him that way the offense was much better.  

For some nonsensical reason Jet fans want their insurance fall back cut before the season starts  As JJF says above, people here are unreal.

Ho hum. The guy is a nice back. He'd be better served as a complimentary back on a contender.  He's long in the tooth, he's no game breaker and he's been injured a lot in the twilight of his career. Didn't even play but a spell in 2nd half of season.  Surely you're not making a case justifying his ability to 'win games' for us. Like I said, he fits perfectly for what we are trying to achieve 0-16.

[Jet Nut]

1 minute ago, BigO said:

Ho hum. The guy is a nice back. He'd be better served as a complimentary back on a contender.  He's long in the tooth, he's no game breaker and he's been injured a lot in the twilight of his career. Didn't even play but a spell in 2nd half of season.  Surely you're not making a case justifying his ability to 'win games' for us. Like I said, he fits perfectly for what we are trying to achieve 0-16.

You kind of missed he whole point of what I said.

He wasnt as bad as some have made him out to be.  And he can still be cut if he continues to slide.  

That you actually believe he is cause to go 0-16 is ridiculous. 

[BigO]

Just now, Jet Nut said:

You kind of missed he whole point of what I said.

He wasnt as bad as some have made him out to be.  And he can still be cut if he continues to slide.  

Actually you missed my point ☝️ I like the guy. Thought he was a good addition but of course last year was a disaster.  Forte was just another quick fix/rescue attempt by Mac to go for another futile playoff game. The question is WHY is he still on this team? It's not what he can do - it's what he can't do. 

[Dcat]

Just now, BigO said:

Actually you missed my point ☝️ I like the guy. Thought he was a good addition but of course last year was a disaster.  Forte was just another quick fix/rescue attempt by Mac to go for another futile playoff game. The question is WHY is he still on this team? It's not what he can do - it's what he can't do. 

as stated in an earlier post, Forte remains on the team because his salary is guaranteed and it would cost the Jets more money to replace him on the roster since his salary hits the cap whether he is on the team or not.

[BigO]

Just now, Dcat said:

as stated in an earlier post, Forte remains on the team because his salary is guaranteed and it would cost the Jets more money to replace him on the roster since his salary hits the cap whether he is on the team or not.

That's not the only reason Dcat. The Jets will not be slinging it around like a frisbee this upcoming season. It's going to be a methodical offense that produces minimal points. Lot of running, lot of drop offs to backs and TE's.  It will be Chad Penningtonesque.  Forte will be perfect for this boring, mundane visionless offense.  I feel badly for him. He's had a fine career but he made a critical mistake coming here. 

[Jet Nut]

6 minutes ago, BigO said:

That's not the only reason Dcat. The Jets will not be slinging it around like a frisbee this upcoming season. It's going to be a methodical offense that produces minimal points. Lot of running, lot of drop offs to backs and TE's.  It will be Chad Penningtonesque.  Forte will be perfect for this boring, mundane visionless offense.  I feel badly for him. He's had a fine career but he made a critical mistake coming here. 

I would take a Chad Pennington offense next season in a heartbeat, sign me up right now.  Nothing boring about an efficient WCO piling up points but with a short passing game.  

Just as i'll take any help that Hack or whoever gets in their passing game having a receiving RB at his disposal.  If the best one is Forte, fine, hes paid for anyway.  All the doom and gloom scenarios, the idea that 800 + in 14 games is a horrid season playing behind a historically bad QB and a shambles of an OL aside

 

[dbatesman]

3 hours ago, Warfish said:

Forte should have been cut.  Retaining him is stupid, no matter what the cap obsessives say, he does nothing good for the team in 17' or going forward.  Every snap he takes should be taken by someone else who might have a future here.

Pretty much. I liked the Forte signing, but if I remember correctly, it happened the same day as the Powell resigning, which made no sense.

[BigO]

21 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

I would take a Chad Pennington offense next season in a heartbeat, sign me up right now.  Nothing boring about an efficient WCO piling up points but with a short passing game.  

Just as i'll take any help that Hack or whoever gets in their passing game having a receiving RB at his disposal.  If the best one is Forte, fine, hes paid for anyway.  All the doom and gloom scenarios, the idea that 800 + in 14 games is a horrid season playing behind a historically bad QB and a shambles of an OL aside

 

Ok so 1-15

[joewilly12]

32 minutes ago, BigO said:

That's not the only reason Dcat. The Jets will not be slinging it around like a frisbee this upcoming season. It's going to be a methodical offense that produces minimal points. Lot of running, lot of drop offs to backs and TE's.  It will be Chad Penningtonesque.  Forte will be perfect for this boring, mundane visionless offense.  I feel badly for him. He's had a fine career but he made a critical mistake coming here. 

If they are losing they have no choice but to sling it around. Imagine being down 21-0 at the start of the 4th quarter and offense running 3 straight draw plays the Jets usual, there will be a riot at MetLife. 

[LIJetsFan]

Forte was a bad signing, period.   His salary made it even worse.  Sadly we're stuck with him; hence the main reason he was a bad signing.  

[joewilly12]

7 minutes ago, LIJetsFan said:

Forte was a bad signing, period.   His salary made it even worse.  Sadly we're stuck with him; hence the main reason he was a bad signing.  

It was a bad signing but it fit the pattern at the time. 

[j4jets]

But what a fantastic signing that was!

Most of Macs garbage gets categorized in 3 categories:

1. $8mil for a starting QB is amazing! ($8mil!)

2. We can get out of that monster deal in a year or two  

And the best one:

3. That move had Woody written all over it

[Joe W. Namath]

Matt Forte is one of the best pass catching backs in league history.  We took him off the field on 3rd down.

 

Hahahahahaha

[Tony MaC]

I find myself more satisfied by Mac's contracts than not. Revis and Fitz (2016) was probably his worst deals for different reasons, we had a bunch of middle of the road contracts with more than one year of commitment that's hard to complain about unless you're nitpicking, (Harris, Gilchrist, Carpenter) and then there were ones like Marshall's and Cro's which were ideal for the team in that they were one year deals with annual options.

And given the latter type of contracts its a wonder why Forte wasn't given that kind of one year commitment. Didn't make sense the day he was signed, looks incredibly out of place now. Mind you this contract isn't going to kill us or anything, but of the deals that got two years this one makes the least amount of sense. 

But honestly I didn't make this thread to complain about Mac, I did it more to focus how strange Forte looks being on this team given its new direction and to discuss how he's supposed to fit now.

 

 

 

 

[Beerfish]

This team doesn't give a sh*t about the RB position.

Nothing wrong with the signing the 1st place but signing him and then taking him out on passing downs was full idiocy.  That is what he does best if anything powel should be the 1,2 down back and forte should have been the 3rd down back.

[CotcheryifyouCan]

can we throw him the ball this year please? i want to see him lined up in the slot every once in a while with powell in the backfield

[rangerous]

4 hours ago, Jet Nut said:

Ran for over 800 yards, just under 4 per, with a bad OL, no QB threat and 30 receptions while playing parts of the season injured.

You need at least 3 backs in camp.  If he ends the preseason playing like the 4th you can release him.  Hes still a great receiving RB.  When they used him that way the offense was much better.  

For some nonsensical reason Jet fans want their insurance fall back cut before the season starts  As JJF says above, people here are unreal.

right.  not to mention the fact that powell gets dinged up quite a bit.  i can see powell being used much like the 49ers did with roger craig.  craig wasn't a flashy runner but if got the dump down passes he was usually good for some serious yards.

[Jet Nut]

5 hours ago, BigO said:

Ok so 1-15

We disagree. It's all opinion. Let's move on, I'm not going to debate whether 800+ yards while not playing a whole lot is acceptable or not

[Jet Nut]

1 hour ago, rangerous said:

right.  not to mention the fact that powell gets dinged up quite a bit.  i can see powell being used much like the 49ers did with roger craig.  craig wasn't a flashy runner but if got the dump down passes he was usually good for some serious yards.

They've already said Powell probably isn't getting most of the carries.  They're going to split them IMO and try and finish the season with 3 healthy, fresh backs.  

[Jet Nut]

5 hours ago, LIJetsFan said:

Forte was a bad signing, period.   His salary made it even worse.  Sadly we're stuck with him; hence the main reason he was a bad signing.  

The signing, given coming off a 10 win season, and the salary were not bad signings, no one bitched when he was signed.  Now, its the equivalent of some 100 mil contract.

 

[LIJetsFan]

3 hours ago, Jet Nut said:

The signing, given coming off a 10 win season, and the salary were not bad signings, no one bitched when he was signed.  Now, its the equivalent of some 100 mil contract.

 

We were never a contender coming off that 10 win season behind Fitz's impossible to duplicate performance.  Anyone with half a brain knew this.  It was a bad signing compounded by Gailey's misuse of the talent.