2018 is the key year for Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan

For the New York Jets, 2018 is the key year for the Todd Bowles/Mike Maccagnan era.

By the time the 2018 season begins, the New York Jets roster will be completely purged of almost all of Rex Ryan’s players.  That’s when we will know if this regime actually works.

Head coach Todd Bowles will finally have a roster filled with the players he wants, and by the end of 2018 Maccagnan will have had four years to mold a roster in the image that they want.  Then and only then can we really judge where this team is headed when lead by these men.

2017 is a year for progress, not judging whether or not this regime can ultimately succeed.  Final win-loss total actually doesn’t matter, because most of this team is young, and the expectations should be low, at least in terms of winning.

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As of now, the average age of the roster is 26 years old with four years of NFL experience.  Those numbers will only get lower after the draft and signing undrafted free agents.

Fans will be ready for heads to turn when the Jets finish with four wins or less at the end of 2017.  However, it’s not about the potential 4-12 (or worse) record.  It’s about how the team looks together.

They’re building basically from scratch, and it will take quite a bit of time to get it right.  Maccagnan and Bowles are capable of doing that.

No matter what happens, unless the team looks completely out of sync, they both should be safe for 2018.  However, if one goes, they both must go.