Owner Woody Johnson believes the 2017 New York Jets should be judged on how much they progress during the year, not their win-loss record. Easy for him to say; he's the boss and no one is going to kick him out.
But what about linebacker David Harris, the longest-tenured player on the team? He's 33 years old, running out of time. He reached the AFC Championship Game in his third and fourth seasons, thinking it would be an annual occurrence, but now he's gone six consecutive years out of the playoffs.
For him, it's all about the wins and losses.
"I won’t say 'rebuild,'" Harris said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. "Every team makes transactions in the offseason to try and better the team, and we still have the same goal as we do every year and that’s to win the Super Bowl."
What about defensive end Leonard Williams, the best player on the team? He's only 22 and figures to be around a long time, but he doesn't want to make losing a habit.
"I’m trusting the process," said Williams, commenting on the roster upheaval. "We have a new GM, a new head coach and they want their specific guys here. There were a lot of guys here before they got here that they didn’t necessarily draft or you didn’t know if they wanted them here or not. I think I’m just kind of moving on from it. That was this offseason, and now we’re back and we have all new guys, so I’m trying to focus on the guys that we have here and not the guys that we don’t."
Actually, general manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles aren't new -- it's their third year -- but this offseason has a new feel to it because of all the high-profile moves. Gone are Nick Mangold, Brandon Marshall, Darrelle Revis and several others. The Jets are rebooting in Year 3 of this regime, trying to become a young, hungry team.
"Obviously, they made some changes," guard Brian Winters said. "Some are for the better, some are a little more difficult than others to make. Obviously, I think everything is for the better."
-- Rich Cimini
