By WFAN.com
At 3-5 the New York Jets haven't yet given up on making the playoffs, but it's tough to deny that the organization's attention is firmly fixed to the future.
Much of this season has been about continuing the rebuild and about monitoring the development of rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold has had his ups and downs. He has looked bright in moments, but his ten interceptions are tied for the lead in the NFL.
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Despite this, Mike Maccagnan says that he has liked what he has seen from the team's young QB. The Jets GM spoke to the press at length on Thursday.
"I would say if you historically look at most rookie quarterbacks, a few have come into the league and performed at a somewhat high level -- many not as high of a level as they eventually perform at," said Maccagnan. "But I do think it's a process you go through. Like with any player, it's a difficult league to transition into, but more so at that position … When you look at him from kind of his approach to the game, his work ethic ... it's something we knew coming in, but obviously watching him kind of handle that situation, handle the locker room, how he approaches it, his passion to be good and his competitiveness, that's been a really big positive for him."
Maccagnan seems happy with the development so far, but he kind of has to be. He's the one who drafted Darnold with the third overall pick. Maccagnan will be on the hook for the some of the blame if Darnold doesn't work out.
The 2018 Jets now enter a stretch of their season that sees them play all three of their AFC East rivals in a row. Next year looms large, but Maccagnan still spoke about his frustration with the team's 3-5 record.
"I feel very good about where the team is right now. There's a lot of young players. We're not consistent enough to win or close out some of these games. But we definitely see some positives in there. From the standpoint of where we are and going forward, I do feel good about it. But we're not where we want to be."
Where the Jets want to be is back with a winning record and back with a shot of making the playoffs. That seems unlikely to happen this year, but the important thing is that it happens in the near future. Maccagnan sees the team being "very active" in free agency to help them get there.
"This is an offseason we feel really good about. With that amount of cap space and cash in free agency, along with our draft picks we could be in position to really springboard this thing forward. We feel good where we're are."
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Financially the team can feel great about where they are. The Jets are set to have over $106 million in cap space this offseason. The signings will come, now it's just a matter of Maccagnan and company making sure they're the right additions to make.
The Jets are in action on Sunday afternoon when they will take on the Dolphins in Miami.
