New York Jets: 2018 Season preview, prediction and more

Fans of the New York Jets finally have hope. They have who they believe is a franchise quarterback, but how will things begin in the Sam Darnold era?

The 2017 season can be considered the beginning of the rebuilding process for the New York Jets. They had a few bumps in the road, but they looked like a team that was on their way to something.

The Jets were close in a lot of their losses and one or two swings in those games could’ve led to different outcomes. Their year began tumultuously, though, from a fan and media perspective. Late in the process of free agency they cut some fan favorites David Harris and Eric Decker. Decker was injured, and he had to be cleared to cut him. So, the Jets aren’t at fault there.

However, they were trying to work out something with Harris on a pay cut, but he relented. So, both sides are at fault there. The Jets didn’t have to drag out those negotiations, and Harris could’ve been more negotiable. Both cuts were necessary, though. The future cap implications were greater than keeping them on the team for one more season.

The Jets finally traded Sheldon Richardson to the Seattle Seahawks for Jermaine Kearse and a second round pick — which they parlayed into the No. 3 overall pick.

The 2017 season seemed to be all about Christian Hackenberg. The main question was if we would ever see him play, but the Jets never did play him. Ultimately, Josh McCown played in most of the games before an injury ended his season, and we got to see why Bryce Petty couldn’t beat out a veteran journeyman.

The season ended with a dismal 5-11 record after some controversial calls that went against the Jets and some games in which the Jets were totally mismatched. In the end, this season was just a building block for the future.