Mock Offseason with Watson trade

[maury77]

Cuts: https://overthecap.com/calculator/new-york-jets/

Jamison Crowder, Henry Anderson, Sam Darnold (traded, but I have to figure the savings realized from cutting him), Alex Lewis and Ryan Griffin - Not a lot of surprises here. Cutting Crowder may raise some eyebrows, but the Kyle Shanahan offense is all about getting the ball to playmakers in space and letting them create. I'm not sure Crowder is a fit anymore. 

Available Cap Space - $90,515,604

Trade:

Jets receive Deshaun Watson & Whitney Mercilus

Texans receive Seattle's 1st rounder in 2021, Jets 1st rounder in 2022 & 2023 plus Sam Darnold - Ok, Houston gets their 3 first rounders and the Jets don't have to give up their number 2 overall. Mercilus is no longer a good player, but Houston is currently 18 million over the cap and the Jets give them some help. Plus, in my scenario, the Texans hire Josh McCown as HC and he in turns decides he can resurrect the career of his former teammate. 

Available Cap Space - $69,000,000

Jets 

Free Agents (I used Spotrac for the contract figures)

Marcus Maye - 3 years at 8.3 million

Neville Hewitt - 2 years at 1 million per year

Curtis Samuel - 12.4 million per year for 4 years. Samuel is a NYC kid who is 25 years old and can play outside, slot, RB. Excellent fit for the Shanahan scheme. 

Kendrick Bourne - 5 million per year for 2 years. Bourne is a 25 y/o FA from San Francisco that has been solid for the Niners and provides good depth.

Joe Thuney - 5 years at 13.9 million. Douglas gets his man and the Jets solidify the interior of the OL. 

Gerald Everett - 7.3 million for 3 years. The SF offense relied heavily upon their TE and the Jets can't go into next season with only Herndon. The new Jets staff should be very familiar with Everett as the Rams are in the same division as SF. 

Richard Sherman -  1 year for 7 million. Yes, he's old, but is still playing well and the Jets need some vets in the locker room. 

K'Waun Williams - 2 years for 3 miilion per year. Paterson native comes home to play the slot for his old coach. 

CJ Beathard - 1 year, 1 million dollars. Jets need a vet backup in case Morgan isn't ready and Beathard is familiar with the offense. 

Draft

 

[maury77]

Jets starting lineup

QB: Watson

RB: Javonte Williams

FB: Trevon Wesco

TE: Gerald Everett

WR: Mims, Samuel & Rondale Moore

OT: Becton & Fant

OG: Darrisaw & Thuney (Darrisaw moves outside in 2022)

Center: McGovern (Creed takes over in 2022)

DL: Quinnen and Fatukasi/JFM

5 Tech: JFM or Oweh on passing downs

LEO: Mercilus

LB: Mosely, Hewitt and Cashman

CB: Sherman, Hall/Stokes and Williams

S: Maye and Davis

[PepPep]

I personally think the Jets will have to give up the #2 pick. Any talk of trading Watson will start with that. That's just my humble opinion. Without that #2 pick (and the 2 trade downs you have) it changes your whole draft. 

I hate to criticize the likelihood of these mocks and FA signings b/c who the F knows so whatever, this is all for fun. But how you gonna do Bless like that? I think he will excel in Saleh's scheme. I don't see a rookie like Stokes or an underachieving UDFA like Williams coming in and taking his spot. Even Hall would have to play lights out to earn that #2 spot. Just my opinion. 

Otherwise, yeah, i'm down with it. I would 100% love Watson, even if it takes 3 first rounders (and even if one of those is the #2 overall). I would rather it was ours this year (#2), Seattles this year, Seattles next year. Be done with it by 2023, use the leverage of giving up the top 3 pick to have the other two 1st rounders be low. 

[PepPep]

I did a very simple mock with a Watson trade. It assumes we give up #2 and #23 this year as well as Seattles pick next year for Watson. I'm not getting into FA but I assume the Jets will bring back Maye, JFM, Hewitt, Poole, Elflein. I'm not including a Darnold trade but it's quite likely he gets moved before the draft. I just think we might end up with a 2022 pick instead of a 2021 pick. Also, if the Giants resign Williams the Jets will get a higher draft pick. I am not taking that into account. 

*Note: I think there is a good chance JD moves down from our #2 pick to add more picks. He did this last year. But I'm not including in draft trades for simplicity sake. 

Pick 34: Terrance Marshall Jr.- WR (LSU): I considered W.Davis-OG or C.Humphrey-C who were still on the board, most of the pass rushers I wanted were gone, but Marshall was too good to pass up. 

Pick 66: Carlos Basham Jr.- Edge (Wake Forest): Beastly powerful Edge Rusher who has enough burst and speed to fill that LEO role for Ulbrich. I was surprised that he was still available. Basham will most likely be gone in reality but in this simulation I had to take him. 

Pick 86: Kenneth Gainwell- RB (Memphis): Jets get their bell cow back. Gainwell has power, speed and pass catching ability. I think he will combine nicely with Perine and Ty as a three-headed monster. 

Pick 100: Rodarius Williams- CB (Oklahoma State): At this point I am taking a developmental CB. Jets need CB help but I think with Saleh coming in and implementing zone the scheme will make it easier on Hall and Austin on the outside. With Poole staying and nickel and maybe a vet like Sherman coming in the need at CB isn't as urgent. Williams is a super talented long, lanky CB but he'll need to learn 

Pick 132: Alaric Jackson- OT (Iowa): Jackson is an OT who could translate to OG in the NFL but I see him as probably a backup RT. He's more NFL ready than a guy like Cam Clarke. But you need these guys for depth along the O-line.    

Pick 140: Shaka Toney- Edge (Penn State): Toney will probably be gone by now as someone will roll the dice on his raw talent. He fits the weak side pass rusher mold for Salehs system but definitely needs development.  

Pick 164: Israel Mukuamu- CB: (South Carolina): Adding more CB talent. Mukuamu has good strength, plays well in zone, has experience playing safety, great tackler. He may end up transitioning to safety at the NFL level but at this point in the draft its great value. 

Pick 216: Riley Patterson- K (Memphis): With the final pick in the draft I take a kicker. just because, well, we need a kicker and I'm sick of signing guys who i have no confidence in. I don't know if Patterson is any good but he was the top ranked kicker in this mock so I took him. 

Essentially, I brought in two starter playmakers at WR and RB to surround Watson and a starting Edge rusher. Then depth at O-line, CB and what I would hope will be a starting Kicker.