NY Jets: Team fills Quinton Coples’ roster spot

For the NY Jets, head coach Todd Bowles was good on his word as they have filled Quinton Coples‘ roster spot with another promising linebacker.

The Jets made waves across the league by releasing their former first-round pick on Monday and Bowles explained himself in his weekly press conference. He also revealed he had a big plan for the now vacant spot, here is what he had to say provided to The Jet Press by the Media Relations Department of the Jets:

On reason the decision was made now instead of the end of the season…

Well, we weren’t playing him and as the scheme evolved, there wasn’t much we could do in that regard. We’re trying to do some things going forward and make some business decisions as far as getting our team better, so now was a good time.

On if the team has something in mind for the roster spot vacated by Bowles…

Yes, we have something in mind going forward. As we see how it develops, we’ll go from there.

On if the plan is to sign a kickoff returner…

I’m not going to divulge that at this time, but we do have something that we’re looking at.

My rant was published on why I thought the Coples’ release was a terrible personnel move, but hold the phone folks, Bowles ‘has a plan’ and that plan came to fruition. The Jets have made the much anticipated roster move to fill the void left by Coples. *Drum roll please* and the new player that’ll don a Jets jersey filling the void for Coples is:

We have signed OLB Josh Martin to the active roster. DETAILS >> https://t.co/q21L70kNu7 pic.twitter.com/MCI80g4Los

— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 24, 2015

Josh Martin! You know Martin right? He must be a secret gem of some kind, clearly Bowles has been orchestrating this move for weeks with Coples and his playing time diminishing by the week. Well that seems to be a bigger slice of optimism than I’m willing to cut off the cake at this current moment.

Oct 11, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Josh Martin (95) and middle linebacker Kwon Alexander (58) and defensive tackle Henry Melton (90) celebrate during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

During his press conference, Bowles played with fans and the NY media when he said he has a ‘plan’ for that roster spot. I thought maybe that meant some seasoned veteran that has been sitting near the top of their free agent list would come in and prove that I completely jumped the gun. But no, we claimed some unknown commodity off the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad.

For his career, Martin has played in 21 games (one start) with a half-sack, a forced fumble and 28 tackles, all with the Chiefs. In other words he has had little to no impact since entering the NFL. While on the other side of the coin as expected, Coples was claimed off of waivers and of course it should have been obvious where he was going to land:

“Coples has been claimed off of waivers by the Dolphins according to multiple reports, which means that he will make the trip back to his old stomping grounds for the Week 12 game between the two AFC East teams. In addition to providing some info about what the Jets might have planned for this weekend, Coples also gives the Dolphins another body to use at defensive end in their 4-3 base defense. Coples was playing outside linebacker for the Jets, but has been more effective up front over the course of his career.” provided by Pro Football Talk via NBC Sports

Next: Fantasy Football Start or Sit Week 12: NYJ defense

Many thought Coples would stay in the AFC East, just not with the Dolphins who the Jets just happen to be playing on Sunday. I banged my chest a few days ago in my NY Jets make bold statement with Quinton Coples release piece about how if Coples went to a 4-3 team he would dominate and prove the Jets wrong. I almost want Coples to have a crazy good game to prove to the Jets’ front office that they were completely wrong.

Regardless, we’ll have to wait to hear more from Bowles on this ‘big move’ bringing in the unknown commodity in Martin, but we’ll find out about Coples a lot sooner than most anticipated with our pivotal game on Sunday vs. the Dolphins.