I start out by picking the Patrios Air Strike playbook for offense, and the LeBeau Zone Blitz playbook for defense. I still want a pass-based offense, but not the same as my Broncos dynasty. As for defense, I wanted to try a 3-4 scheme, and Dick LeBeau is the king of the 3-4, so I chose his playbook. Luckily for me, the Jets are already a 3-4 team, so I'll probably have some good personal for the job.
Here are the philosophies:
QB: Balanced
HB: Power
FB: Blocking
WR: Balanced
TE: Playmaker
OL: Balanced
DL: 3-4
LB: 3-4
DB: Prototype
K: Balanced
P: Balanced
Now I'll introduce you to my awful staff.
HC: Christian Eftaxias (13)
OC: Brian Schottenheimer (35)
DC: Bob Sutton (17)
STC: Kevin O'Dea (4)
QBC: Brian Daboll (23)
RBC: Jimmy Rayne (62)
WRC: Noel Mazzone (29)
OLC: Mike Devlin (5)
LBC: Jim Herrmann (47)
DBC: Jerome Henderson (****ING 1 OVR!!!)
DLC: Dan Quinn (13)
GM: Guy Torrent (60)
Trainer: Ed Scott (14)
In short, upgrades need to be made.
Next I am prompted to franchise tag someone. I have no standout FAs, but I end up tagging 81 ovr FS Eric Coleman. If I can't trade him, I'll just release him.
Here were the other players franchised:
Bears franchise WR Bernard Berrian
Panthers franchise RT Jordan Gross
Steelers franchise LG Alan Faneca
Seahawks franchise CB Marcus Trufant
Patriots franchise WR Randy Moss
Bengals franchise LG Stacy Andrews
Then I get my season goals. They are to find an 85 ovr or higher RT, TE, and ROLB. Sadly, I only have 21.7M in cap space, so I won't be making any FA signings.
Here is my pre-offseason roster
QB: Kellen Clemens and his 88 potential are good news. I'll probably role with him as my starting QB. Chad Pennington and his 9M cap penalty are not good news. He's gettin' the boot.
RB: Thomas Jones is solid.
WR: I'm paying too much for mediocre WRs.
TE: Chris Baker is awful, but I never use TEs.
T: LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson is a beast in the making, while I have no RT as of now.
G: Nothing great a either G position. Brandon Moore has a 5M cap hit and is only 74 ovr...ugh...
C: Nick Mangold is a beast.
DE: Shaun Ellis is solid, but his 7.5M cap hit is brutal considering he's only 80 ovr.
DT: Kris Jenkins is an absolute beast in real life, but the game only gives him an 84...oh well. I'm also stuck paying former 1st round bust 68 ovr Dewayne Robertson a 10.8M yearly salary. He's gotta go.
OLB: Mediocre, over-paid.
MLB: David Harris is solid, Eric Barton on the other hand is not.
CB: Darrelle Revis is a beast, and for some reason, Justin Miller is an 81 ovr with an 86 pot...hmn. I'm stuck paying David Barrett a 4.2M salary to sit on the bench. He's is also gettin' the proverbial boot.
S: Kerry Rhodes is a beast, and I'll probably move Abram Elam to SS, who is solid.
K: Nugent is great.
P: Graham is great, but at 34 years old, he's gonna leave soon.
I will probably end up releasing more than half my roster during the year in favor of cheap, expiring contracts.
As I said earlier, I'm not making any FA signings because of my low cap, but I did make a trade, which was for RT Mark Wilson (86). I'd never even heard of the guy, but at 86 ovr, I complete a season goal. Even better was that I only had to trade Laveranues Coles, Leon Washington, and a 2009 6th rounder. Quite the bargain.
Anyway, here are some of the top FA signings.
DT Albert Haynesworth (92) signs 5 yr 56M deal with Chiefs
CB Asante Samuel (88) signs 5 yr 43M deal with Dolphins
CB Nnamdi Asomugha (89) signs 5 yr 41M deal with Bengals
ROLB Lance Briggs (90) signs 5 yr 50M deal with Saints
RE Justin Smith (90) signs 3 yr 26M deal with Broncos
FS Eugene Wilson (84) sign 3 yr 23M deal with Bengals
ROLB Terrell Suggs (89) signs 3 yr 23M deal with Patriots
LT Flozell Adams (86) signs 1 yr 5.4M deal with Lions
FS Ken Hamlin (88) signs 4 yr 16M deal with Bills
HB Shaun Alexander (84) signs 4 yr 24M deal with Broncos
LE Antwan Odom (85) signs 4 yr 28M deal with Buccaneers
CB Randall Gay (84) signs 4 yr 19M deal with Chiefs
HB Michael Tuner (83) signs 4 yr 21M deal with Falcons
ROLB Karlos Dansby (85) signs 4 yr 22M deal with Bengals
ROLB Kawika Mitchell (84) signs 4 yr 18M deal with Bills
WR Isaac Bruce (84) signs 1 yr 5.4M deal with 49ers
FS O.J. Otogwe (84) signs 4 yr 10.5M deal with Giants
So yeah. That's basically it. Up next, the NFL Draft.