New York Jets: Mike Maccagnan set up this off-season by his past

Mike Maccagnan has done a solid job thus far in the off-season for the New York Jets. But, we can’t forget he was bad over the previous four.

Mike Maccagnan has done some, on paper, great work for the New York Jets this off-season. Each player they have signed, from Le’Veon Bell on down, has filled a hole that this roster has been needing very badly.

Giving Maccagnan a good grade to date this off-season makes sense.

However, some have forgotten about how Maccagnan has been over the past off-seasons. In particular, I came across this exchange on Twitter. People calling Maccagnan a good general manager, and forgetting that he wasn’t one prior to this year.

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Just look at the guys they have brought in this year. Kelechi Osemele was the first. They made a low-risk, high-reward move trading for a former All-Pro.

What people are forgetting is that he HAD to make that trade. Why? Because he never drafted anyone to groom to take over for James Carpenter.

Great move? Sure, it could be. But it was also a move made with the general manager’s back against the wall.

The Jets gave a large contract to C.J. Mosley. He’s a terrific player that will make an impact.

He also can step in and fix the problem caused by his selection of Darron Lee. See? Once again a new signing is fixing one of his mistakes.

Le’Veon Bell was a no-brainer. He had to sign him, no matter what. But, you can add to it the fact that he never found a running back that could get the job done on a consistent basis.

Even go back to last year. The pick of Sam Darnold was a great move. Well, it was a great move combined by a little bit of luck.

It was also the move that brought Maccagnan back for another year. He only picked Darnold because of Bryce Petty, Christian Hackenberg, skipping Deshaun Watson and Pat Mahomes…etc.

So we have a move that was good, but was set up by several poor moves.

And don’t forget about the draft failures. Aside from Jamal Adams and Sam Darnold, where are the impact players? Leonard Williams was supposed to be one but he has performed nowhere near his potential.

Sure he found Lachlan Edwards, but does he get a medal for finding a punter?

It’s acceptable to say that Maccagnan has done well this off-season and been bad previously. The two thoughts are not mutually exclusive.