With the OTA’s approaching, John Clayton of ESPN.com offered his opinion on the five teams that had the best offseason. And guess who comes in at number three?

3. New York Jets: Teams that finished in the final eight of the playoffs couldn’t do much in free agency because of the restrictions caused by the uncapped year. In the case of the Jets, they had to lose a free agent to sign a free agent. Defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson (Saints) was the only unrestricted free agent who went to a final four team other than the Jets. Give Tannenbaum credit. He was aggressive despite the free-agency handcuffs. He made more with less. The Jets clearly have more coverage ability at cornerback with Antonio Cromartie and first-round choice Kyle Wilson than they had with departed veterans Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland. Brodney Pool was a sleeper who signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal to help at safety. Rex Ryan convinced Taylor he could get 15 sacks as a pass-rushing linebacker, and if he can, that would be five more than Ryan received from the other Jets linebackers combined. Getting Holmes for a fifth-round pick should help even if he plays only 12 games. The only debatable moves are how well LaDainian Tomlinson and fourth-round pick Joe McKnight do replacing Thomas Jones and Leon Washington at running back and how ready second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse is to replace Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca.

Clayton has the Pats at number one and the Dolphins at number two.  The Jets ended up with four Pro Bowlers while the Pats got one, (if you include Vince Wilfork).  Meanwhile the Dolphins landed one Pro Bowlers in BMarsh, and  Clayton had them in front of the Jets.  The Dolphins and Patriots did have deeper draft classes, so maybe that was an added factor.

This is not to say these two teams didn’t get better, but I think the Jets just had a more productive offseason considering they added a top ten WR, a potential stud at CB in Cro and a future HOF in LT.  Nonetheless, it has been a busy offseason and Mike T is to thank for that.

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