SS Kerry Rhodes , ILB David Harris ( audio headset ? ? ) & OLB Bryan Thomas ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

Home > The Way We Hear It > Whispers

May 31, 2008

~ ~ ~ With the league opting to allow a defensive player to wear an audio headset in his helmet, a majority of teams will designate a middle or inside linebacker to wear it. But the Jets are seriously considering SS Kerry Rhodes for the role, according to coach Eric Mangini. ILB David Harris is the other candidate.

~ ~ Jets OLB Bryan Thomas, coming off a disappointing season after a breakout campaign in

[drago]

I hate Bryan Thomas very much.

[JayKwaz]

I hate Bryan Thomas very much.

I am thinking a motivated Bryan Thomas would be a great reserve/special teams player. I know he is expensive for that role but he can do the job well. You can never have enough depth.

[Ghost]

Bryan Thomas just lost respect from me.

[DMaynard]

Well, at least Thomas is honest. A P.O.S., but honest.

[Ghost]

Well, at least Thomas is honest. A P.O.S., but honest.

Thats true.

[villain_the_foe]

Home > The Way We Hear It > Whispers

May 31, 2008

~ ~ ~ With the league opting to allow a defensive player to wear an audio headset in his helmet, a majority of teams will designate a middle or inside linebacker to wear it. But the Jets are seriously considering SS Kerry Rhodes for the role, according to coach Eric Mangini. ILB David Harris is the other candidate.

~ ~ Jets OLB Bryan Thomas, coming off a disappointing season after a breakout campaign in

[124]

This was reported a couple of days ago. I guess news really does travel slower out there to kelly.

[Ghost]

This was reported a couple of days ago. I guess news really does travel slower out there to kelly.

Well she is a blond.

[Greenseed3]

This was reported a couple of days ago. I guess news really does travel slower out there to kelly.

The internet must be powered by slow moving wind-mills in Sweden

[bitonti]

everyone pissed on thomas - you guys realize he took an under market deal right? you get what you pay for 9 mil bonus sounds like a lot but in the defensive end market it isn't - Pace got 13 mil more and never had a season like Thomas' 2006.

He slacked off in 2007? That means he's got a wake up call for 2008. The 2007 NYJ sucked with or without THomas - Everyone's so quick to discount this player but he's still a premium athlete, and now has not just competition but help around him.

Also FWIW Kerry Rhodes used to be a QB, I think he could do a great job as QB of the defense. The CS probably feels like there's more potential in giving the safety 'last minute' information than the LB.

[PeterNorth09]

everyone pissed on thomas - you guys realize he took an under market deal right? you get what you pay for 9 mil bonus sounds like a lot but in the defensive end market it isn't - Pace got 13 mil more and never had a season like Thomas' 2006.

He slacked off in 2007? That means he's got a wake up call for 2008. The 2007 NYJ sucked with or without THomas - Everyone's so quick to discount this player but he's still a premium athlete, and now has not just competition but help around him.

Dude, I hate to break it to you but Bryan Thomas is nothing special. The deal he took was one year prior to Calvin Pace's when the market changed due to the cap going up.

I'd be happy with 5 sacks and 80 tackles from Thomas next year. Anything more is a nice surprise.

[Sperm Edwards]

everyone pissed on thomas - you guys realize he took an under market deal right? you get what you pay for 9 mil bonus sounds like a lot but in the defensive end market it isn't - Pace got 13 mil more and never had a season like Thomas' 2006.

Thomas did not take an under market deal. During the 2006 season, when he signed his extension, he was not given an "under market" deal. $5M/yr was not at any bargain. He had 5 sacks and 60 tackles on the season when he signed his extension, and I'd bet it was negotiated for more than a single week (the prior week he had 2 sacks, his career best game). So while he had improved drastically over his prior seasons, the reality is when the Jets started negotiations with Thomas & his agent on an extension, he probably had like 3 sacks on the season at most. $9M signing bonus was OVER market for that production.

Now throw in that he was not a free agent. He did the Jets no favors by taking that deal. He had 4 sub-par years, and a little over half of a mediocre season in year 5, under his belt when the Jets offered an extension. He'd have been a bloody fool to not take it while the getting was good. What if he didn't get 5.5 sacks in those last 5 games? Would someone else have offered him a $25M contract with almost $10M up front? Fat chance.

The contract sizes change every year. At the time he signed his contract, for his body of work to date, he was OVER market value. After the cap went up for the 2007 season (and again for the 2008 season) his contract size is now no longer of blockbuster-size. Well that happens with everyone. The numbers always go up.

So Pace's deal, with a bidding-war for his services ongoing in the 2008 offseason, is not the same situation as Thomas taking a "take the money and run" stance with 5+ games to play in the 2006 season. He also risked injury during those last 5 games; if he got hurt, no way he would have received a contract that size. Same thing happened with Pennington, except that Bradway gave him a contract bigger than any bidding war would have brought out anyway.

Further, he was not a DE. Not anymore. As similar as the role might be relative to the native defense, the fact is he WAS a linebacker when he signed his extension, not an end. You can refer to him as a DE/OLB all you want but his official position, where he started & played most of the time that season, was OLB.

There is no "bright side" of a player admitting he got lazy for a full off-season and regular season after getting a giant contract. The Jets didn't give him a $3M signing bonus for $7M over 5 years. They gave him quite a lot more. Taking the position that unless you pony up a $20M signing bonus you should anticipate players being total garbage (like Thomas was in '07) is a disservice to the fans who pay good money to watch him play & support the league that makes this player so rich in the first place.

[bitonti]

the cap goes up about 10% every year that doesn't explain why Calvin Pace got 60% more guarunteed bonus money.

Bryan thomas might just be the Jets most productive pass rusher this season.

It's not as absurd as it sounds.

Here's a scary thought, if Bryan Thomas is worthless - what does that make Pace or Gholston? I seem to remember a certain #6 overall pick mailing it in during the BCS championship game... no one seems to cry and wail about that pickup... and He will get more money than Thomas, having not recorded a single NFL sack... and having alot of the same motiviational questions.

NEITHER of those players, Pace or Gholston have proven themselves to the level that BT has proven himself on the NFL field.

oh and as a bonus - NEITHER of those players run the 40 yard dash as fast as Bryan Thomas.

blah blah blah he's lazy he's a disgrace - I call bull. He's a good if not very good player who had an off year and admitted as such. His mistake was admitting it in public but at the end of the day, last year was a debacle either way, what matters is what happens this year.

[Irish Jet]

the cap goes up about 10% every year that doesn't explain why Calvin Pace got 60% more guarunteed bonus money.

Bryan thomas might just be the Jets most productive pass rusher this season.

It's not as absurd as it sounds.

Here's a scary thought, if Bryan Thomas is worthless - what does that make Pace or Gholston? I seem to remember a certain #6 overall pick mailing it in during the BCS championship game... no one seems to cry and wail about that pickup... and He will get more money than Thomas, having not recorded a single NFL sack... and having alot of the same motiviational questions.

NEITHER of those players, Pace or Gholston have proven themselves to the level that BT has proven himself on the NFL field.

oh and as a bonus - NEITHER of those players run the 40 yard dash as fast as Bryan Thomas.

blah blah blah he's lazy he's a disgrace - I call bull. He's a good if not very good player who had an off year and admitted as such. His mistake was admitting it in public but at the end of the day, last year was a debacle either way, what matters is what happens this year.

He had an off year?? No. He had one decent year 2 years backs after doing sweet **** all up until then, that year happening to be his contract season. The guy is a bust.

[bitonti]

He had an off year?? No. He had one decent year 2 years backs after doing sweet **** all up until then, that year happening to be his contract season. The guy is a bust.

again if he's a bust what is Pace? Pace never had a year as good as thomas's Decent year - why did he get 24 million guarunteed while thomas got 9?

[jetmant87]

i agree i dont see how pace can be that much better than thomaas

[Sperm Edwards]

the cap goes up about 10% every year that doesn't explain why Calvin Pace got 60% more guarunteed bonus money.

Bryan thomas might just be the Jets most productive pass rusher this season.

It's not as absurd as it sounds.

Here's a scary thought, if Bryan Thomas is worthless - what does that make Pace or Gholston? I seem to remember a certain #6 overall pick mailing it in during the BCS championship game... no one seems to cry and wail about that pickup... and He will get more money than Thomas, having not recorded a single NFL sack... and having alot of the same motiviational questions.

NEITHER of those players, Pace or Gholston have proven themselves to the level that BT has proven himself on the NFL field.

oh and as a bonus - NEITHER of those players run the 40 yard dash as fast as Bryan Thomas.

blah blah blah he's lazy he's a disgrace - I call bull. He's a good if not very good player who had an off year and admitted as such. His mistake was admitting it in public but at the end of the day, last year was a debacle either way, what matters is what happens this year.

I don't know if this was a reply to me, but this is my take:

Calvin Pace was overpaid based on his body of work. He may prove to be worth the money we gave him and he may not.

Bryan Thomas was overpaid at the time they came to an agreement on extension terms, but by the end of the season (finished with 8.5 sacks) it didn't seem out of proportion.

Pace had a very similar season to Thomas. Some would say better, some would not. Thomas had better pass-rushing stats (2 more sacks) but then he was a weak side linebacker. Pace had more tackles & dropped into coverage more. You know as well as I do that even though they both played OLB, they didn't really play the same position exactly.

Both of them were reaches in the first round when they were drafted. Pace probably more so.

Both of them had a combination of health issues & lousy play their first 4 seasons.

Both of them had slow (statistical) starts to their 5th season.

Both of them had strong (statistical) finishes to that 5th season.

Pace was paid more this spring because he was a free agent and because the cap went up again (as it always does). He would have taken less money from Arizona, but they didn't offer him anything reasonable as they were having major cap issues of their own between Fitzgerald, James, & others (like having to franchise Dansby). There simply wasn't enough $ to offer Pace an extension.

The Jets with Thomas were in a different situation. Thomas was offered this extension when he had like 3 sacks through 10-11 games. In the open market, after 4 prior sub-par seasons, he likely wouldn't have done any better than what we gave him. Then he had a strong finish, making it look like a smart move in hindsight (as of January '07). But at the time I'm sure the Thomas camp looked at that contract as a pretty sweet deal; 4 sub-par/bust years and one half of a so-so start of year 5 and he was rewarded with a $25M contract. He was hardly underpaid.

Then he flopped again, and - as he admitted himself - it was due to laziness. It isn't "blah blah blah" as you're putting it. It IS a disgrace when someone gets paid & then slacks off after that & he even now admits he did just that. That is not "bull" at all. He didn't "admit" that he had an off-year. He admitted that he didn't work hard, leading to an off-year. COLES had an off-year. JONES had an off-year. No one thinks that they weren't trying their very hardest during the week and on Sundays. You cannot say the same about Thomas because he freely admits that wasn't the case.