When Jets Owner Woody Johnson was asked last season about then-General Manager John Idzik’s decision to hold onto some $20 million in cap space, he defended Idzik by saying that he approved of Idzik’s approach without mandating it.
Johnson also mentioned that he believes you should always have cash in reserve by never spending your last dollar. A few months can make a big difference. Whether because of the team’s results or a change in personal economic theory, Johnson has changed course.
During an interview with ESPN Radio in New York on Wednesday, Johnson reiterated that he didn’t direct Idzik to sit on his money and said that he now does not believe in the reserve approach he previously espoused.
I’m not going to say to him, ‘Save it.’ That’s ridiculous. We’re in this to win it,” Johnson said. “We’re in the win business. Reserving firepower in terms of cash for some future date is not part of the makeup of the New York Jets. We will spend what we are allowed to spend, to try to make us as competitive as we can be.”
New General Manager Mike Maccagnan has already said he plans to be “very active” in free agency this offseason and it seems that he’ll have no problem convincing Johnson to return to the freer spending ways of the years before Idzik implemented his more austere approach to running the team. That might turn out to be good news for cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was purged last year for cap reasons but hits free agency off a rebound in Arizona with thoughts of a Jets reunion on his mind.
