We would have to be complete morons to not pay the guy. It never makes sense to let solid linemen walk when you have issues at line (aka Pouncey, Long, Incognito, etc.). I don't know what the average is for talented OL these days, but surely this won't be massive amounts of money. Edit- here are the top 5 paid linemen in the NFL. Surely James would not be considered in this caliber and I'm guessing we can ink a deal for roughly half these amounts- Taylor Lewan, Tennessee Titans - $16,000,000. Nate Solder, New York Giants - $15,500,000. Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons - $15,000,000. Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys - $14,000,000. Andrew Norwell, Jacksonville Jaguars - $13,300,000. So maybe a four to five year deal worth $6-9M per? That's a solid investment.
As long as it doesn't break the bank, I'm for it. James is still just 26, and in the NFL, most offensive linemen see their greatest success from 29 on. He could continue to be good for us through the next 5-10 years. Don't think I'd go higher than 10M per, though.
Since James is a RT, this may be a better comparison: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/right-tackle/ Lane Johnson averaging a bit over 11 million at the top. I don't think James would command that much, but he might challenge the next tier in the 9 million range. Based on what we are hearing though, the question is probably not what we think of James in the next two years, but rather 2-3-4 years down.
Yeah, I think $8-9 million per year is a fair number for all sides. Hopefully he sees it that way as well.
If we let him go it's another hole we would have to fill on a line that currently only has ONE viable piece under contract. He should have been locked up in a new contract a year ago.
We'll see if now that Grier is in charge, that was a team choice before, or whether James and his agent were asking for the moon and being unreasonable. I won't knock the team for not making him the highest paid RT in the league, though I do agree that it would be easier to work with three holes on the OL rather than four.
JJ is a 70.8 on PFF. He is rated as above average, (lower than very good), but he is still young and I have absolutely no faith in last year offensive line/conditioning coaches so there should be room for improvement. He will probably ask for 11, settle for 8.75 for 4 years. It should be money well spent.
Just remember that the market is not set by the average of existing contracts. - Average contracts also include contracts for players on their rookie deals, which are artificially deflated. - True free agents get paid more than restricted FAs because the home team does not have the same leverage. - The salary cap goes up almost every year, so contracts signed 3 or 4 years ago can be significantly lower than current contracts. - All you need is two interested teams and you have a bidding war and the price escalates rapidly like it did with Olivier Vernon. I think we’ll see James sign for a fair bit more than the numbers quoted so far, whether it is with the Dolphins or somewhere else.
We have been saying “its another hole we have to fill” for the past 30 something years... we got to do whats best for the team, and rebuild the right way. If that means going cheap and get back to ground zero then so be it. We have been patching holes for far too long instead of knocking the walls down and build something great.
Yeah, but he was also the top overall NFL tackle of the week two times last year...I'm sure that will come up in negotiations. Like I said, 8.75/per would be fair for everyone and I hope he gets every penny. I'm just worried that he'll ask for $17M thinking he should be the highest paid in the league (that means he goes to Cleveland).
And that is exactly why he needs to be resigned. He is only 26 and he is a good right tackle. Well he will never get it. He doesn't play the premium Left tackle spot and while I want to resign him he is not the top Right tackle in the league. He is an above average Right tackle and thats it.
Sign the man; he is young enough to be around in 4-5 years easily. You have to retain the young talent you do have, and James has yet to hit his peak.
The only facet of his re-signing I don't like is the fact we've witnessed countless stretch plays to his which get blown up for losses. I feel like re-signing Ju'wuan James would give us solid pass blocking on the right side for a few years while it would also lock us into kind of mediocre run-blocking. While I suspect he might get more consistent with pass-pro, how safe is it to assume he'll become a more physical presence at this stage? Seems he's just not that guy. In the end, I'd re-sign him considering OL is a big need so long as his number isn't crazy.
I'd pay him. He may not be the most elite RT in the game, but we have pretty damn good bookends and if we can get our middle line to even play average we will see benefit.
To counter that, it's optimal to run off-guard (between the guard and tackle for those who aren't hip on linemen). We don't do that though because our guards aren't at that level.....which is what inadvertently leads to those stretch plays. If the hole was there to begin with then it's a non-issue.
How I feel. Not only that, but you can get the higher-priced years of his new deal out of the way while Laremy Tunsil's resigning creeps around the corner.