As a die hard New York Jet Fan, this wasn’t an easy weekend for me. Sunday’s are never easy as a Jets fan, but seeing the Jets cut 11-year, veteran, Nick Mangold was hard to come to grips with. At the end of the day, it was the right decision and the Jets will save just over 9 million in cap space. But it would be an injustice to not pay homage to the man who embodied the Jets organization for the past decade plus.
Mangold was a class act and leader both on and off the field. I can honestly say I’ve never heard a teammate say anything bad about Nick. Mangold went out with class, of course issuing this statement. “While this is a sad day to leave so many great coaches, teammates and executives, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for me. My family and I will always be grateful to [Jets owner Woody] Johnson and the entire organization for making me a Jet.”
Great guy, great football player, Nick you will be missed more than you know. One of the all-time great jets Mangold was a cornerstone at the center position for over a decade making 7 Pro Bowls. What also made him great was his toughness and ability to stay healthy. Grinding through injuries and still playing 14 games in his first 10 seasons was impressive, to say the least. However last year he missed 8 games and he’s getting up there at 33, sadly this was the right move.
Owner Woody Johnson had some nice words to say about Mangold. Woody statement goes “For the past 11 years, Nick Mangold has been a cornerstone of our team both on and off the field…As our Pro Bowl center, Nick consistently demonstrated superior skill and unmatched toughness. Equally important, off the field, Nick exhibited respect, sensitivity and compassion for the causes he supported. It has been a privilege to have known Nick these many years and, for all of us, I say Nick will always be a Jet.”
Can’t agree more with him aside from the end which he phrased a little weird. It’s Woody Johnson though, let’s not get greedy. Nick, you’ll be missed by us all and you will always be a Jet to us unless you join the Pats, that would be bad.
As much as this sucks to say goodbye, it’s the right decision. And now the Jet’s need to start from scratch and start to build from the ground up. The backbone of any football team, contrary to fantasy experts, is the offensive and defensive lines as well as the quarterback obviously. The lines never get talked about like they should and it’s because they’re “not sexy” positions. But I and anyone with half a brain in football will tell you games are won in the trenches. When the Jets had the ‘ground and pound’ teams of Ryan we didn’t have a ton of huge names. However, we had great offensive and defensive lines to pave the way. The likes of left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold were cornerstones for years, we forget how lucky we were in having both. The Jets are never lucky, but we were with these two studs.
Now brings a new era for Jets Nation and I actually am excited. We’ve already cleared over 16 million total this offseason and declined left tackle Ryan Clady’s option saving an additional 10 million in cap. The Jets are doing the right things, now general manager Mike Maccagnan just needs to select the right players. Players to be the Fergusons and Mangolds for years to come. Just as important we need a QUARTERBACK! It’s no secret to anyone you need at least a decent one to win, and the Jets have not. For christ sake, we made it two AFC championships games with Mark Sanchez! I’m always left pondering what could have been if we had just a decent quarterback.
Expect more moves from the Jets such as the trading of Sheldon Richardson. Also I’m sure something will be done with Darelle Revis, maybe even Brandon Marshall too. The Mangold cut means nobody is safe. NFL Free Agency is just over a week ago and begins March 9th at 4pm. The clock is ticking Mike, the show is yours. Now is your time to sign and draft your own players and build something special. If not, sadly it could be more of the same for the Jets.
