New York Jets

For a Billion Dollars, the Jets Could Be a 'Fun' Rebuild

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Jets outlook is bleak. For $1,000,000,000, You Might Be Able to Change That.

The fourth place New York Jets are at the very bottom of the AFC East. The Jets roster feels like a bit of a mess. Contributors — such as Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall — are going to be another year older, while some team leaders — namely Darrelle Revis, Ryan Fitzpatrick and David Harris — declined significantly. Jets fans are growing impatient with Todd Bowles’ lethargic vibe.

Naturally, Jets owner Woody Johnson could be leaving the team soon. Johnson is reportedly is being considered for the Ambassadorship to the United Kingdom. In this scenario, the Jets could be quickly forced into a sale or into the hands of a different owner. Let’s live in this world for a minute:

A new owner means a new vision for the New York Jets. According to Forbes, the Jets are worth about $2.7 Billion; your vision could be the Jets vision for about $1 Billion+ (or a majority stake).

If Johnson is named Ambassador, all of this evolve rapidly. Each NFL team has a succession plan usually used in the event of the owner’s death but Johnson would probably divest before accepting the Ambassadorship.

The likeliness of Johnson’s actual nomination is unknown at this point. There is precedent for Presidents naming their top donors (like Woody Johnson) to Ambassadorships: interestingly, Franklin Delano Roosevelt named donor Joe Kennedy (JFK’s father) to the United Kingdom post prior to World War II.

So, what’s attractive about buying the Jets?

New York’s market size is mind blowing. With over 20,000,000 people in the New York-metro area, your new business has a huge potential client base. The team has a relatively new stadium and a brand new team facility. A new owner would not need to worry about either for at least a couple of decades.

The Jets roster haul might not be as bad as initially thought.

Obviously, there is a glaring whole at quarterback. Both Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick will become free agents after this season. I don’t think the team sees much in Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg, as evidenced by them forcing Fitzpatrick back under center. Smith and Fitzpatrick will save the team about $14 Million on next year’s payroll.

Multiple key players are due to hit the free agent market after the 2017 season; the team is going to have to budget around these players and decide who to retain. Of this group, I think the team keeps Sheldon Richardson, Quincy Enunwa, Calvin Pryor and Ryan Clady. Each of these guys are 30-or-under. New York has harder decisions to make in the over-30 group: Nick Mangold, Brandon Marshall, David Harris, and Breno Giacomini.

If the coaching and management staff are replaced, they have a couple of good key players to build around. On defense, I like former Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee, and defensive linemen Muhammed Wilkerson and Leonard Williams. Offensively, Quincy Enunwa could be a great target for whomever the Jets trot out at quarterback next season.

On another note, I would buy the Jets because I think the New England Patriots window of dominance is closing. While teams like the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills are competitive, the Patriots are the class of the AFC East– and have been for nearly two decades. Realistically, they’re getting old. Brady and Belichick, for as good as they have been, cannot compete forever. Within five years, both men could be out of the NFL.

Top market and emerging ability to compete? Sounds like (really, really wealthy) bidders could be poking around the situation soon.