If you've never listened to Tony Robbins, he often says that if you want to be great at something, mimic someone who is. In football terms, if you want to be a winner, surround yourself with winners, players who know what January football feels like and even has a few fingerprints on a Lombardi Trophy.
To that end, the Jets have cavernous cap space and must decide which free agents to share it with. Some Jets fans want Kirk Cousins under center next season, which will cost more than $100 million over four years for someone who hasn't won a playoff game.
If the Jets want a super smart guy, a positive presence in the locker room who wants to win and has done so with way more frequency than they have, perhaps they should look west. All the way to Seattle. The Seahawks are releasing Richard Sherman, shaving $11 million off their salary cap, making the loquacious cornerback a free agent. The Jets should call him. Sherman, a four-time Pro-Bowl player, had a 3-plus GPA at Stanford, was one of the three best cornerbacks in the NFL over the last five years and will cost a fraction of what it would cost to bag Cousins.
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There are two concerns with Sherman. He turns 30 in a few weeks, and he is coming off Achilles surgery.
What should not be a concern is Sherman's peripheral interests. The fact that he's politically or culturally engaged merely makes him a millennial. Perhaps the new-age athlete hurts your old-world sensibilities, but Sherman has no hulking entourage and no rap sheet, so you should have no concerns.
Even if you're not in love with the idea of signing Sherman on its own, it should interest you that one of his main suitors is likely to be the New England Patriots, who have a decent record in acquiring discarded defensive backs. (Darrelle Revis worked out pretty well, as did Stephon Gilmore.) There are four other teams who should contend for a playoff spot this coming season that could also be interested in Sherman: the 49ers, Falcons, Chargers and Titans. It's especially telling that Bill Belichick and Sherman's former defensive coordinator, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, could be pining for the cornerback.
And while Sherman wasn't willing to take a pay cut to stay in Seattle, he surely realizes he can't command the same cash he could when he was 25 years old. And he's not likely to demand or command more than a two-year commitment. Besides, this isn't about adding the missing piece to a title contender, as the Pats and Falcons likely project Sherman to be. This is about an attitudinal reboot for a club that has spent too much time on Page Six instead of the sports page.
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Whether it's Sheldon Richardson or Robby Anderson taking ill-advised and illegal joyrides, or Dylan Donahue -- who was recently arrested and charged with a DWI after allegedly driving the wrong way through the Lincoln Tunnel -- the Jets need an infusion of victory-hungry ballers. Consider Sherman a watered-down but younger version of Ronnie Lott, the Hall of Fame safety who finished his career with the Jets in 1993 and '94.
NFL stars of all stripes will tell you that winning is equal parts talent and temerity. You need gifted players, of course, but perhaps no sport relies on locker-room chemistry more than pro football -- a violent, emotionally charged game that relies on players playing for their teammates as much as themselves. The Jets can surely afford $20 million over a couple years for a proven, Pro Bowl player with a new chip on his shoulder.
Beyond his obvious physical wares, you've also seen Sherman barking and storming down sidelines, with Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor smoothing his gridiron fur. But the rants and raves are always about winning, about each player squeezing that last drop of blood or sweat or soul for the common cause. It may look selfish, but at its core, Sherman's on-field desire is selfless. And he's a winner, something the Jets haven't had in way too long.