Sports

The Future of New York Football

Coming into the 2017-18 NFL campaign, both the New York Jets and Giants had high hopes. The Jets was expected to have a more athletic team than they have had in years past and the G-men was expected to make a deep run into the playoffs with the acquisitions they made during the off-season. Unfortunately, inconsistency, injuries and losing was the plot of both football teams, which made this year quite hard to endure for the respective Jets/Giants fans.

The New York Jets released a lot of their top players and relied on younger and a more athletic roster as well as a veteran quarterback in the 38-year-old Josh McCown. With the team in a rebuilding faze, it is safe to say that no one expected the Jets to compete with the rival New England Patriots in the AFC East. Through the team’s first 6 games, they played some tough-nose football and for the moment, turned a few heads with their play. Eventually, the team’s brutal strength of schedule reared its ugly head and got the best of the young Jets team. Going into this Sunday’s finale, the team has a won-loss record of 5-10, last place in their division. On top of that, the team’s best player, Muhammad Wilkerson, has been inactive for the past 2 games despite being healthy. Wilkerson was recently fined by the organization for a conduct issue. He is expected to be inactive for the season finale on Sunday, which will indicate his days as a Jet are over. In 2016, Wilkerson signed a five-year/$86 million deal, but it seems like the team is ready to part ways. A few things we can say regarding the Jets future: If they decide to release Wilkerson, that will only give them more cap room space, which means more money to be able to sign top-tier players. According to Overthecap.com, in 2018, the Jets are expected to have nearly $80 million in cap space. Let’s not forget that the team did play hard for Coach Todd Bowles, they just didn’t tank their season to get a top draft pick.

As for the New York Giants, injuries played a huge part in their season. They suffered crucial injuries on both sides of the ball including top defenseman Olivier Vernon and season-ending ankle injuries to top receivers Odell Beckham, Jr. and Brandon Marshall. The injuries took such a toll on the team it led to the benching of quarterback Eli Manning. Manning had his 210 consecutive starts snapped as he was benched by the team. At 36 years old and a lot of mileage during his 14-year career, Manning could be looking at his last days as Giants QB. The team currently has a win-loss record of 2-13 and it is almost certain the Giants will select a quarterback to relieve Manning either now or towards the future. Coach Ben McAdoo and General Manager Jerry Reese were let go by the organization. As we look toward the future, who will be the next head coach for the Giants? Will Odell Beckham, Jr. come back from his devastating injury stronger than before? Has Eli Manning played his last game as a Giant? So many questions loom for both New York teams as we head into 2018.

On behalf of myself and everyone here at Our Time Press, we would like to wish the Our Time Press universe a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

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