June 14, 2012; Florham Park, NJ, USA; Fans arrive at New York Jets fan fest before New York Jets minicamp at the Atlantic Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

It’s time for the Jets and the staff to get back down to business. They have a lot of work to do, with a lot of holes to fill. John Idzik and his staff are going to be put to the test, as they prepare to re-tool this roster before they move into the mini camp, and eventually training camp.

You know that saying about being doomed to repeat history if we ignore it? Well, sometimes in football, we need to repeat history, but we repeat it by paying attention to it. The Jets have had their share of losing seasons, as all of us know all too well, and have had to rebuild far too often. One of those years in particular was 2005. The Jets finished that year 4-12, but then rebounded all the way to 10-6 in 2006.

Let’s look back at this time and see if we can’t learn some lessons from this rebuild period, that we can use going forward.

2005 turned out to be Herman Edwards’ last season in New York. Remember? He told the press that he had no intention of leaving New York, but next thing we knew, he was on a plane to become the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. In walks Eric Mangini, the newest golden boy off a hooded coaching tree. Our good friend Mike Tannenbaum was named the general manager, and a new era began.

What this team did best was what we have been talking about since the off season began, built through the draft. For all of his faults, Mike Tannenbaum hit several out of the park in the 2006 NFL draft. 2 first round picks landed us Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson, cornerstones for many years to come as we know. The third round brought Eric Smith around who, for what it’s worth, has been a long time starter for the team, and effective special teams member. The fourth round was especially fruitful, yielding Brad Smith and Leon Washington.

See? Diligent work in the draft, rather than quick fixes, can pay off in spades.

As far as free agent transactions, they stayed with the mid-level, role playing choices. They signed WR/KR Tim Dwight, for example. They re-signed S Victor Green and FB Richie Anderson. They made a trade to bring in running back Kevan Barlow. They even were able to renegotiate the contract of their starting quarterback, Chad Pennington. They brought his salary from $6 million to $3 million, allowing him to make up the difference with incentives.

Can they do that with Mark? I guess anything is possible. Could he accept a reduction in his salary, with the opportunity to earn it back? Sure. It might motivate him to perform better. Maybe he won’t due to the lack of support he has gotten, we’ll see.

But the point is, the Jets can rebound from a losing season, without breaking the bank for players, just look at 2006. Herb Brooks said it best when he said “I’m not looking for the best players, I’m looking for the right ones”. If the Jets are smart, they can do it right.

John Idzik is taking his time to review the Jets roster, and that is a good thing.

The Super Bowl is over, and teams have started to make roster moves. Most notably, the Giants have cut ties with running back Ahmad Bradshaw, reportedly with a “failed physical” designation. Other teams have made moves as well, such as the Detroit Lions releasing Titus Young. However, one notable team that has not made a move yet is our very own New York Jets.

The Jets are in a bad salary cap situation, as we all know. They also have a lot of moves that we are expecting to see happen quickly, like Bart Scott and Calvin Pace. Yet, they have done nothing, and others have started to notice. One reporter noted on Twitter, the fact that the Jets are in a horrible cap situation, but yet the Giants are the ones making the moves so far. His point was to express surprise, thinking that the Jets should be cutting players by now.

Stop. This is not a problem, not a big deal at all.

First of all, we haven’t even reached the beginning of the new league year, and we don’t reach it until the middle of next month. The teams can’t even negotiate with their own players set to be UFAs until March 9th, and the new year begins March 12th, and starts free agency/trading. What am I saying? The Jets can’t really make any moves yet, aside from cutting players to open up money. They will do that anyway. It doesn’t give them any kind of competitive advantage to do that now. It makes no difference, they should take their time.

Secondly, remember what this roster looked like in 2012. Old, slow, and talent-lacking are some of the clean words associated with the 2012 New York Jets. To put it short, it’s a roster that needs to be fixed. It’s not going to turn around with one or two moves. It needs fixing, and how do we fix it? By being thorough. When moves are made just because other teams are making moves, or because they think they are EXPECTED to make moves, mistakes are made.

Instead of just making blanket cuts, Idzik and company should be looking at each player very closely, to see if maybe they can be brought back at a cheaper rate. Maybe Calvin Pace or Bart Scott, can be salvaged at a smaller salary, to remain as veteran backups. I know that won’t make many of us happy, I am just using that as an example. But the point is, the Jets are going to have to be creative in their work with this roster. They can’t just make moves for the sake of making them, and that takes time.

The bottom line is this, no the Jets haven’t made any money saving roster moves yet. Give them time, it’s not a big deal. They will do it.