Maccagnan On WFAN: Jets As Competitive As Can Be Heading Into The Summer
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Forget that his team has yet to play a game, Mike Maccagnan is still viewed as a conquering hero of sorts.
The Jets' new general manager, who has had by all accounts a stellar offseason, spoke to WFAN's Mike Francesa on Wednesday about free agency, the draft, and how he plans to make further improvements to the roster heading into training camp.
"We feel good. We feel good going forward, but our work is not done," Maccagnan said. "There is still, as we go through, there are players still on the street in pro free agency. There are potential trades that will come across our desk. At some point in time players will get waived from teams we may pick up to improve ourselves, and that's all before we get to training camp.
"We tried to make ourselves as competitive as best we can be at every position," he added.
Mike Maccagnan
An executive with more than 20 years of player-personnel experience in the NFL, Maccagnan was hired back in January to replace John Idzik, following a dismal 4-12 season that also brought to an end Rex Ryan's six-year reign as head coach.
A case could be made that heading into free agency the Jets were among the least talented teams in the league. The task facing Maccagnan, a first-time GM, was daunting. He was charged with hastening the rebuilding process while at the same time putting the Jets in position to challenge for a playoff berth.
It's safe to say he's done just that and then some, completely overhauling the roster in less than five months. Instead of still looking like a team years away from being good, the Jets now look like a team just a player or two away from being a force.
Among Maccagnan's many impact moves this offseason, he completely overhauled the team's troublesome secondary, signing veteran cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine, and safety Marcus Gilchrist.
He also traded for veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall, re-signed linebacker David Harris and re-signed running back Bilal Powell before adding veterans Stevan Ridley and Zac Stacy to a backfield that already had the bruising Chris Ivory.
Then there was the draft, where Maccagnan struck gold in the first round, selecting USC defensive end Leonard Williams, a player many experts said was the best overall talent available.
"There was about three players that I felt -- personally, that if they had fallen to No. 6, because you never know what's going to happen -- you have to make that determination to sit tight or move out of the pick. (Williams) was one of the three that I felt very good about," Maccagnan said. "In fact, quite frankly, he was the highest rated player on our board at that time. And we felt there was a bit of a drop off to the next tier down."
The Jets' GM later added explosive wide receiver Devin Smith out of Ohio State, outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin of Louisville and Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty, who is a project but has a ton of upside.
Maccagnan said he did look into moving up for one of the top quarterbacks available, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, but at the end of the day the cost was too prohibitive. That said, the executive said he saw great value in getting Petty in the fourth round, regardless of the fact that he played in a spread offense at Baylor as opposed to the pro-style offense used throughout the NFL.
"We felt very good about Bryce from a personality standpoint -- in terms of being a good kid, an exceptionally hard worker, smart kid -- so we thought he had all the intangible things that lined up. And then from a physical standpoint he has size, stature, a good arm. It's really going to be up to him to determine what kind of player he develops into," Maccagnan said. "We felt he was a guy that would be worth the time to invest in him because we thought from a ceiling standpoint, we thought physically and intangibly he has a lot of good of very good qualities to potentially be successful in this league as a quarterback."
As for the quarterback situation heading into the summer, the one position that appears to be holding the Jets back from being serious contenders in the AFC, Maccagnan said he will defer to new head coach Todd Bowles' determinations. Incumbent Geno Smith will get a test from veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has a ton of familiarity with new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey's schemes from their days together in Buffalo.
Maccagnan said Smith will get the first-team reps as Fitzpatrick works his way back from a broken leg that ended his season last year with Houston. The GM also said not to discount Matt Simms, who has been impressive in the limited time they've worked together.
"We'll kind of let this thing work itself out," Maccagnan said.
