Jets coach Todd Bowles is likely safe.
That's the word from NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, who noted on Sunday that, barring a late-season collapse where the team clearly quits on Bowles, he will be retained.
Rapoport could not say the same for some of the Jets' most important players. He mentioned corner Darrelle Revis, wide receiver Brandon Marshall and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson as potential names on the move as the team looks to shave some salary cap space and remove the glut of high priced-veterans on their roster.
"They knew this was a rebuilding process when Todd Bowles took over," he said. "It is simply a matter now of letting him, or not, continue along with that process."
In another Jets piece this morning, Rapoport noted that the Jets could look very different in 2017. Should owner Woody Johnson receive ambassadorship to Great Britain, someone else could be in charge of day-to-day operations.
While this is good news for Bowles theoretically, the Jets (3-9) cannot afford to slip up down the stretch. After an embarrassing 41-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, Bowles had to defend his team's effort even though it was seemingly nonexistent. Questions will persist if the club cannot perform well in San Francisco against the 1-11 49ers.
They won more games than anticipated last year, fewer this year, but the hope remains to build through the draft and stock what was one of the worst rosters in the NFL when they took over, Rapoport reported. They aimed for a competitive rebuild, using free agents to bolster their roster, but the lack of depth is evident.
A potential Jets rebuild would focus on middle-tier players, Rapoport reported. But they do have players to build off of, including Leonard Williams and Quincy Enunwa. If they do jettison big-name players, they'll have plenty of salary-cap space because of the way they structured many of their free-agent contracts, Rapoport added.
As of now, Bowles should consider this a vote of confidence, with opportunities in the future to remove some of the dead weight this offseason. Coaching a veteran team is a blessing and a curse, and Bowles is finding out just how difficult it is when the going gets tough.
