By Devin Adams
This week, in an attempt to pump a little life into the Jets’ offense, the team traded away some conditional draft picks for wide receiver Percy Harvin. On paper, this might seem like a good decision, but it was the wrong move for the Jets.
Percy Havin’s effectiveness lies in his ability to run the ball on a jet sweep and on kick returns. He has not been an effective receiver, since he was catching passes from Brett Farve and the Jets have no one close to the same level at quarterback. The Jets have one of the best running games in the NFL and already have a speedy running attack in Chris Johnson. The fact of the matter is the Jets did not need Percy Harvin.
The other problem is that Harvin has a reputation for being a disruption in the locker room and the last receiver the Jets had similar to that was Santonio Holmes. He did nothing but cause distractions for a team that already had enough problems on the field. This is simply a desperate attempt of the Jets front office to salvage their jobs. This could actually prove to be the final straw. Trading away draft picks when your team is headed for a one or two win season is a terrible way to fix problems, especially when you may need those picks to barter for a better player. The Jets would have been much better off with a new quarterback.
If the Jets truly wanted to make a desperate attempt at salvaging their season, they should have gone out and traded for new defensive secondary players. The run defense for the Jets is one of the best in the league, but they don’t have the secondary to support it. The Jet offense has scored points, but the secondary gives up so many that it doesn’t matter by the end of the game. If they really wanted to spend their extra cap space wisely, they should have resigned CB Antonio Cromartie and made a push for FS Jayrid Byrd. Instead, Cromartie left for the Arizona Cardinals and Byrd signed with the Saints while the Jets did nothing.
When you take all of this into account, it’s hard to imagine what the reasoning was behind trading away picks for a very expensive and unnecessary wide receiver. The other sad reality about the trade is that the Jets receivers aren’t even playing that poorly. The Jets are about middle of the league when it comes to dropped passes, so it continues to point the Jets woes at quarterback with Geno Smith. The Jets also already spent money on signing WR Eric Decker this offseason.
The Jets ownership is going to have to make some much-needed management and coaching changes. Head coach Rex Ryan likely already has one foot out the door and GM John Idzik is likely not far behind. The Jets are very likely headed for another year of missing the playoffs and possibly one of the worst records in the league.
