Jets and Giants Underwhelm Badly on First Day of Free Agency

One thing Joe Douglas and David Gettleman have in common, they love shopping at the Five and Dime. 

On the first day of free agency, both New York teams sat and watched as top free agents flew off the board, signing with other teams, while the Jets and Giants stood their ground settling instead for cheaper options. 

The Giants only move was to sign Devonte Booker, a back-up running back to a two-year deal worth around $6 million. That was it for Big Blue thus far. Considering the Giants have only $913,913 in salary cap space (ranked 29th in the NFL) from which to work with, they are not going to make a lot of moves to begin with. 

Losing Kevin Zietler to the Ravens on a 3-year deal with $16 million guarnateed doesn't help either. The Giants need help on both sides of the ball, especially at edge rusher, and offensive line and they failed to improve either on the first day.  Considering some of the big names that are now off the board, it's hard to envision the Giants doing anything but add depth pieces at this point. 

Criticism is certain to come Gettleman's way, who is entering his fourth season at the helm and is out of excuses. 

Meanwhile Monday's free agent frenzy was an "L" for Jets GM Joe Douglas. While he tried to salvage the day by signing a number of depth pieces, it was little consultation, considering the Jets had over $65 million in cap space to play with. They had no excuses, and they failed to draw any interest from big names. 

The Jets were linked to guard Joe Thuney, who signed a five-year $80 million deal with Kansas City; linked to defensive end Yannick Ngakoue who signed a two-year $26 million with Las Vegas; linked to center Corey Linsley, who inked a five year $62.5 million deal in LA to play for the Chargers; and linked defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who wound up signing a four year deal with Cincinnati. 

In short, the Jets got none of the big names they were linked and rumored to prior to Monday. 

Instead the Jets settled. The settled on former Titans Wide Receiver Corey Davis on a three-year deal that will pay him $27 million guaranteed. Signed defensive end Carl Lawson to a three year $45 million deal, and inked linebacker Jarred Davis to a one-year deal. 

All of them are projects. 

Corey Davis has been a mixed bag at wide receiver. He's underwhelmed in fact in his five years with the Titans. His best year - last season, Davis hauled in 65 passes for only 984 yards and five scores. He has never had a 1,000 yard season at wide receiver. 

The Jets desperately need a #1 wide receiver, and it is hard to fathom that they have one on the roster right now.

As for Lawson, he is a guy who brings pressure from the edge, but has underwhelming sacks numbers. He had only 5.5 sacks last year with Cincinnati. Still though if you crunch the analytics he is credited with creating 10.5 sacks last season, and is ranked 14th in pass rush win rate. Lawson's big issue has been staying healthy. He had an ACL tear in 2018 and a hamstring injury in 2019, so he has yet to duplicate the 8.5 sack effort he had in 2017 - his rookie year. 

In short, Lawson is a player with potential. If you ask Jets fans, they are over the moon over these signings -- you begin to think Jets fans would be happy with just about anything for that matter. Both the Lawson and Davis signings are ok, but nothing that will set the Jets apart. 

Not when the Patriots are adding impact players and spending big bucks all over the place. The Patriots are making no excuses. What is the Jets excuse? 

The Jets have been and are a cheap organization. Joe Douglas is a guy who likes the build through the draft, not free agency. This is Douglas' second free agency, and for the second straight year it has been underwhelming returns. 

The Jets still need help at wide receiver, offensive line, edge rusher and corner. They got problems all over the field, and today's depth signings do not change that. Oh, and there is this other glaring issue about the quarterback -- you might have heard about it.