Rise & Grind: Will Woody Johnson screw up the Jets’ offseason?

The Jets’ wheeling and dealing and Marshawn Lynch’s return are making headlines in the NFL.

Mar 7, 2015, 2:08 PM UTC

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

It’s safe to assume that if John Idzik was still running the New York Jets, Brandon Marshall would still be in Chicago ... or somewhere else given the urgency with which the new brass at Halas Hall shipped him out of town (for a fifth-round pick). The new guy, Mike Maccagnan, obviously read the tabloids last year and has done enough homework and seen a roster thin on skill (and lots of other things).

In that sense, pure aggression, the Jets already “won” the Marshall trade. They gave up a nominal return, took on a hefty contract and filled a huge need on the roster. They haven’t done it yet, but all indications are that Percy Harvin will be gone, his cap hit ($10.5 million) replaced by Marshall’s ($7.7 million). Mccagnan even gets an extra $3 million out of the twin moves.

Capology aside, there is the little matter of the roster. Is it actually better? As Danny Kelly noted earlier this week in his piece on rebuilding the Jets, Harvin would bring an exciting skill set to Chan Gailey’s offensive approach (excitement and Chan Gailey in the same place?). Having Marshall, Eric Decker and Harvin on the roster would give the Jets a nice trio, a better group than most of their AFC East peers right now, but Harvin isn’t exactly a first-year head coach’s best friend.

In Chicago, the media wasted no time eviscerating Marshall on his way out of town. Here's what Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune said:

Marshall has become more uncoachable and intolerable each year he has been a Bear. He is over 30, coming off injury, proven less productive, and has alienated half of Halas Hall, if not more.
It got to the point that the coach couldn’t say Marshall ran the wrong pattern for fear that the wideout would spontaneously combust or something.
Marshall was all kinds of loud, fake leadership. He has never been to the playoffs in his NFL career, and now he’s bringing his laughable act to one of the few teams last year’s horrible Bears were able to beat. Good luck with that.

I don’t know how accurate that is. The Bears’ locker room radiated dysfunction. It’s hard to pin the blame on any single person when things turn that bad. Todd Bowles knows Marshall from their days in Miami, including his stint as the interim head coach in 2011. In fact, the two are friends because of their time together (working for Stephen Ross and playing for the Dolphins is a traumatic experience).

Mccagnan is off to a good start, but he has plenty left to do -- find a quarterback, fix the offensive line, get viable starting cornerbacks, etc. The thing to watch now is how the Darrelle Revis stakes play out there. Owner Woody Johnson wants Revis back, a trophy for “beating” the Patriots at free agency and correcting Idzik’s most public failure as GM.

There’s no doubt Revis fills a need for the Jets, who need corners like Revis in Bowles’ blitz-happy defensive scheme. Revis will probably command around $16 million per season on his new deal, maybe more. It’s not onerous considering the Jets have more than $50 million in cap room, but it does come with an opportunity cost. That’s less money to address other roster needs, including planning ahead on contract extensions for Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples, both free agents after this season.

If the owner can’t keep his distance from the front office dealings, Mccagnan’s early hits will have been for nothing and he’ll wind up like his predecessors, another mid-level bureaucrat clawing for something, anything even it’s with the Dolphins or Browns, joining Mike Tannenbaum in the saddest group on LinkedIn.

Davis Harris re-signs with Jets

The Jets made another major move Friday: They re-signed linebacker David Harris to a three-year, $21.5 million deal. Harris would have been one of the best inside linebackers to hit the open market, but New York struck a deal with him less than 24 hours before the free agency tampering window opened.

The Jets were wise to not give Harris a chance to test the market. The Bills were thought to be strong contenders to sign him with his former head coach, Rex Ryan, now at the helm in Buffalo. Harris has recorded 100-plus tackles for three straight seasons and has played his entire eight-year career with the Jets. Harris has 884 tackles, 30 sacks and has played in 123 of a possible 128 games.

Jacoby Jones signs with Chargers

The Chargers signed arguably the best return man on the market when they inked wide receiver Jacoby Jones to a two-year deal. Jones has played eight seasons in the NFL, the last three with the Baltimore Ravens.

In 44 games with the Ravens, Jones averaged 30.1 yards per kickoff return, ranking first in the team’s history. He averaged 9.9 yards per punt return, including a 63-yard touchdown in 2012. He caught 76 passes for 992 yards and three touchdowns over the past three seasons.

LaRon Landry suspended by NFL

Free agent safety LaRon Landry watched his market value take a big hit on Friday. Landry has been suspended for the first 10 games of the 2015 NFL season. He was suspended for four games during the 2014 season (Weeks 5-8) for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, so it’s likely this latest suspension is also for PED use.

Seahawks release Zach Miller

The Seahawks are trying to free up some cap space in hopes of signing some of their bigger-name free agents, which helped lead to tight end Zach Miller being cut Friday afternoon.

Miller, 29, missed 12 games this past season due to his second season-ending ankle injury in less than a year. He caught just six passes for 76 yards in three games. Miller was due a $2 million roster bonus in addition to a $2.8 million salary, meaning the Seahawks saved $2 million in cap space with his release.

Seattle also released defensive tackle Jesse Williams. A fifth-round pick out of Alabama in 2013, Williams had knee issues for the past two seasons and never appeared in a game for the Seahawks.

Bucs pleased with Jameis Winston visit

Buccaneers GM Jason Licht reported in on the team’s recent visit with the Florida State quarterback. Licht said all the right things about Winston saying all the right things.

“He’s lively, he’s engaging, he’s incredibly smart, he confirmed all the things we thought about him going into this process, but the process isn’t done.”

This might be the most half-assed smokescreen in draft history.

Tampering window opens

Teams are free to talk to representatives of pending free agents from other teams. It used to be forbidden, but since every did it anyway, the NFL gave us this nice little three-day window to prepare for a massive Tuesday afternoon Adam Schefter news dump.

Practice safe tampering, folks. And keep track of the rumor mill here.