The big difference for the Jets is Idzak as GM. They have gone from Tannenbaum, a GM who spent money like a drunken sailor eg Revis and Buttfumble, to Idzak, a GM tightwad who is extremely cautious about every player purchased and drafted. Effectively going from one extreme to the other. In 2013 Idzak inherited a salary cap mess and he did a good job of addressing some needs by being a value shopper. However, I strongly doubt that Geno Smith is the solution at QB and unless they get lucky they still don't have a QB. It will be interesting if Vick is given the opportunity. At best, he's just an interim solution to a major problem.
After many years of observing the Dolphins try to get by without a really decent QB. Tannehill is our best chance in 14 years - (Chad Pennington was like an Indian Summer that lasted too briefly to enjoy), my conclusion is that the Jets will continue to have average years until they get the right QB for the long term. The danger of drafting the likes of a Mark S'anchez or Chad Henne is that they will continue to give you some false hope for years and time will be wasted. The Jets need to know very quickly if Geno Smith is a potential savior or a total failure. He was blessed to have college teammates like Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey at West Virginia that helped to make him look decent. Austin was electric in college but may be just too small to make it in the NFL against really good Defenses. Geno has an enormous ego but seems as dumb as a rock. There aren't too many really dumb QBs who ultimately make it in the NFL. The Jets will be just mediocre until they get a QB who they can build on. In Geno and Vick they have the pieces for Dumb and Dumber 2.
The salary cap mess was overblown, he inherited a great situation knowing guys that needed to be cut and knowing the owner wanted to trade the best corner in the game to get picks. He is frugal, he protects picks and it is the opposite of tannebaum who also did a good job for us but in a different way.
if geno is a $anchez we will be extremely lucky. He has a lot to prove, Mark was good here until the talent around him eroded to the point of playing w/ the worst weapons in the league. Geno finished very strong last year, is in year 2 of marty's system and now actually has decent NFL talent around him. We will learn a lot about geno this year.
You don't need a superstar QB to win or Peyton would have 5 SBs and guys like Wilson, Flacco, Eli, etc... wouldn't win.