NY Jets: Todd McShay doesn’t expect Joe Douglas to spend wildly in free agency

Justin Fried

NY Jets (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

The NY Jets are expected to overhaul much of their roster in the offseason, but ESPN’s Todd McShay doesn’t expect the team to spend wildly in free agency.

NY Jets general manager Joe Douglas will enter his first full offseason with his new team with plans to upgrade what was a pretty underwhelming roster in 2019.

Through free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft, the hope is that Douglas will be able to provide the Jets with a number of short-term and long-term building blocks to allow the team to take its next step towards playoff contention once again.

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With around $70 million in cap space projected after a few cuts, the Jets should have plenty of resources to make things happen in free agency. However, one analyst and former college teammate of Douglas doesn’t expect the Jets to be major players on the open market.

ESPN’s Todd McShay has known Joe Douglas for quite some time as the two attended the University of Richmond together and remain good friends to this day. So when McShay talks about Douglas, it’s best Jets fans listen up.

The longtime draft analyst spoke with ESPN’s Rich Cimini about Douglas and the Jets plans this offseason and he insisted that he “doesn’t expect wild spending [by the Jets] in NFL free agency.”

He made note of Douglas’ background with Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and how they tend to hunt more for the bargain than hand out a ton of money in free agency.

“I wouldn’t guess that they’re going to go out and spend a ton of money. “But if they do spend, it’s going to be on guys who are a little underrated and can provide some versatility and some veteran leadership, and probably some special teams help.”

Now, of course, this doesn’t mean that the Jets aren’t going to target big names like Jack Conklin, Byron Jones, and Joe Thuney. But it is a little insight into Douglas’ background and how the systems he was brought up in tend to operate.

However, Douglas will be calling all of the shots for the first time in his career. He doesn’t have to abide by previous regimes’ strategies — he could forge his own path.

Based on things that he has said, it seems likely that the offensive line will remain a top priority and that could include spending some big money on free agents. Maybe it’s not a Conklin or a Thuney, but a Graham Glasgow or a Connor McGovern.

We still have a little over two weeks before free agency officially arrives. But Jets fans have high expectations for Douglas’ first offseason with the team.

Whatever strategy he opts to employ better set the team in the right direction.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.