{"id":2055,"date":"2009-02-06T09:37:40","date_gmt":"2009-02-06T14:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jetnation.com\/?p=2055"},"modified":"2009-02-06T09:37:40","modified_gmt":"2009-02-06T14:37:40","slug":"buyer-beware-jets-should-not-pursue-ray-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/2009\/02\/06\/buyer-beware-jets-should-not-pursue-ray-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Buyer Beware: Jets Should Not Pursue Ray Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ray_lewis\"By Tyson Rauch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Allow me to preface this article by stating that I am a huge fan of Ray Lewis.\u00a0 I admire the way \u201cBig Play Ray\u201d plays the game, from his intensity and leadership, to his focus and determination.\u00a0 Lewis is a first ballot Hall of Fame player that reinvented the middle linebacker position.\u00a0 With all of that being said, here is a list of reasons why the Jets should not sign Ray Lewis if he decides to leave Baltimore.<\/p>\n

Price Tag
\n<\/strong>After last year\u2019s offseason spending spree, to the tune of $140 million dollars, the Jets do not find themselves with a lot of cap room.\u00a0 To make matters worse, if Brett Favre decides to return, Gang Green will have to restructure contracts and or release players to get under the cap.<\/p>\n

Ray Lewis is heading into his 14th year in the NFL and coming off of a Pro-Bowl year.\u00a0 Ray has always been paid like one of the best linebackers in the NFL, and with this being his last contract, will once again look to break the bank.\u00a0 In terms of finances the Jets and Mr. Lewis are not a match.<\/p>\n

Wear and Tear
\n<\/strong>Ray Lewis plays one of the most physical positions on the field at middle linebacker.\u00a0 Over the past 13 years Lewis has made over 1,000 tackles and assisted in hundreds more.\u00a0 At 33, soon to be 34 years old it is only a matter of time before Ray\u2019s body begins to substantially breakdown.\u00a0 Even though Lewis played in all 16 games this year, he missed games the three years prior due to injuries.\u00a0 Could it be that Ray went the extra mile this year playing for a new contract?<\/p>\n

In addition to the health concerns, Ray Lewis is on the downside of his career and has lost a step.\u00a0 Granted Lewis keeps himself in tremendous shape, but father time slows down all great warriors.\u00a0 In the 3-4 attack style defense Ray will be required to make a lot of plays.\u00a0 Does he still have the ability to fit that role?<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that the wear and tear Lewis\u2019 body has taken over the years makes Ray a risky acquisition, especially with his price tag.<\/p>\n

Team Need<\/strong>
\nWith the hiring of Rex Ryan the Jets will be looking to be more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0 The Jets already have some playmakers in place that will fit this attacking style of defense, but there are a couple of glaring holes.\u00a0 The first area that needs to be addressed is the cornerback position playing opposite Pro-Bowler Darrelle Revis.\u00a0 The second position that causes some concern is the safety position playing next to Kerry Rhodes. The Jets defense struggled against the pass last year and both of these positions should be a top priority in the offseason.<\/p>\n

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jets could be in need of a quarterback if Favre retires.\u00a0 The Jets will have to bring in a veteran presence even with Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff on the roster.\u00a0 In addition the wide receiver position could need some attention if Laveranues Coles begins to squabble about his contract.\u00a0 Not to mention the Jets only legitimate playmaker Leon Washington is heading into his contract year.<\/p>\n

So in terms of need, matched up against available salary cap space, Ray Lewis should not be a priority.<\/p>\n

Recap
\n<\/strong>As much as Gang Green fans would love to see Ray Lewis come to the Jets, it just does not make sense.\u00a0 Ray\u2019s price tag no longer matches his skill set or addresses any of the Jets top needs.\u00a0 It is time to stop becoming infatuated with big time names and bring in players that can make an impact on the Jets for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tyson Rauch Allow me to preface this article by stating that I am a huge fan of Ray Lewis.\u00a0 I admire the way \u201cBig Play Ray\u201d plays the game, from his intensity and leadership, to his focus and determination.\u00a0 Lewis is a first ballot Hall of Fame player that reinvented the middle linebacker position.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-featured-editorials"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-x9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}