Jets head coach Adam Gase may soon receive his walking papers, and though the leash for GM Joe Douglas will be a bit longer, Douglas is not without blame for the club’s struggles over his first 16 months or so on the job. In a piece that colorfully recounts all of Douglas’ missteps, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News includes an interesting nugget indicating that Douglas nixed an impending agreement for free agent DB Logan Ryan — whom Douglas reportedly coveted — because he was unhappy that the agreement was leaked to the media.
To be fair, other reporters wrote that Ryan’s asking price was the real obstacle to the deal, and Mehta himself has noted on more than one occasion that Douglas is operating under owner-imposed financial constraints, so it’s unclear what actually prevented Ryan from joining Gang Green. And obviously the Jets would still look just as directionless with Ryan as they do without, but when Douglas’ body of work is laid out in black-and-white, one can understand any skepticism Jets fans might feel about the GM’s abilities.
Now for more from the AFC East:
- Doug Kyed of NESN.com believes the Patriots should try to trade for a top-flight wide receiver. His piece was published before QB Cam Newton threw the ball all over the place in the team’s narrow loss to the Seahawks in Week 2, but in New England’s Week 3 triumph over the Raiders, it was clear that Newton could use another receiving threat. After posting eight catches for 179 yards against Seattle, Julian Edelman caught just two passes for 23 yards against Las Vegas, and the Pats want to reduce Edelman’s snap count. Meanwhile, N’Keal Harry is still coming into his own, and Damiere Byrd is hardly irreplaceable. Kyed believes a player like the Bears’ Allen Robinson would be a great fit, and that New England should not be hesitant to give up 2021 draft capital.
- Prior to the Patriots‘ win over Las Vegas, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com suggested that Sony Michel needed a big game to keep his job as New England’s RB1, and Michel delivered. He reeled off 117 yards on just nine carries, though he and J.J. Taylor both had 11 touches and Rex Burkhead had 13 (three of which ended in touchdowns). As usual, it looks like the Pats will take a committee approach to their backfield, and the committee will become even more crowded when Damien Harris returns from IR. Still, it’s encouraging for New England that Michel, who has not exactly lived up to his status as a former first-rounder, looked as good as he did.
- The Bills signed cornerback Tre’Davious White to a massive extension shortly before the season started, a deal that temporarily positioned him as the highest-paid CB in the league in terms of AAV ($17.25MM). But as Jason Wolf of the Buffalo News writes, some league observers believe Buffalo came out ahead in that deal, as Jalen Ramsey signed a five-year, $105MM extension shortly after the ink dried on White’s contract. The NFL world knew that Ramsey’s deal was coming soon, so pundits like Joel Corry of CBS Sports believe White could have gotten himself at least $19MM per year if he had been more patient, and that the Bills were wise to strike when they did. Of course, with $55MM in guaranteed money coming his way, most people won’t be too sad for White.
The Gase thing is so bizarre. What do they know about him after a few games of this season that they couldn’t have figured out about him last year? Do they just love round numbers and they needed to be infuriated for a full 20 games?
Gase has some history with the Broncos so a post game firing could workout for the Jets if Elway takes him back to Denver.
Might as well take Paxton Lynch back, too.
Rams got screwed on the Ramsey deal. He got picked on by that “he garbage, he trash” QB from Wyoming. He is the reason they lost
Mehta lost his credentials for his sources and making a fake twitter account to pin on the coach. I wouldn’t take what he says to seriously.
Doug Keyes states someone like Robinson. We had him in Sanu. No more trash, waste of money receivers. Get someone great or stick with what we have. Use your head Doug or are you trolling for clicks?
You think the version of Sanu that was on the Patriots was like Robinson? You think any version of Sanu was as good as Robinson? I like Sanu, but they’re different caliber receivers.
Allen Robinson would get great… except that he’s on a 3-0 team.
Combined records of the teams Chicago has beaten : 1-8
They’re not good, they just haven’t played anyone with a pulse yet. The collapse is coming later in their schedule.
And they beat them by a combined 12 points. I don’t know why Chicago would sell at this point, but 3-0 is telling an incomplete story for sure. Time to take a shot with Foles, though.
I agree that the Bears 3-0 is deceiving, but there not trading Robinson. Extending him is more likely. With Foles as the new QB1, Robinson will get better quality passes thrown to him. Some deep balls, back shoulder throws. I look for improvement for the offense and the quality of play.
Jets stink.