No way he is exposed and the Jets lose him for nothing. Maybe if they have a deal with Seattle...
Let's just clarify this for everyone because I think there is a common misconception that if we don't protect Copp and he's taken by the Kraken, we lose him for nothing. That is absolutely incorrect. The way I would look at it is that we "gain" not losing one of Appleton/DeMelo/Stanley.
If we protect Copp, I think the general consensus is that Appleton gets taken by Seattle. If it's not likely that we're signing Copp long-term (and that needs to be figured out this week before the Expansion Draft), then what do you reasonably think Copp could get in the post expansion trade market?
Could Copp return something better than a 25 year old player on a $900K contract that just took a significant step and produced at a 36 point clip/82 game season? If not, why wouldn't you protect Appleton over Copp?
I think you guys really need to view this the way I portray it because you're coming to wrong conclusions on what it means to not protect Copp.
Edit: My vote on the pool would be to leave Copp exposed and let Seattle take him IF we can't resign Copp (and I don't think we can at Overcharge prices)