All Quiet on the Eastern Front

Edition #346

Good morning!☀️

Well, that was a frustrating day. Here we are on the 14th of March and we still don’t have a quarterback.

While the Jets were never expected to be big players in the first wave of free agency, it was expected that we’d at least know who our Quarterback is.

What do we know about Rodgers, or at least, what’s been rumored about Rodgers? And what happened on day one?

What’s become obvious is that the Jets are taking this Rodgers deal to the very end, with Jimmy G signing in Las Vegas they don’t have much choice. If the Rodgers deal does go south, then maybe they pivot to Lamar Jackson, or more likely we see them try and work a deal for Ryan Tannehill or Kirk Cousins. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that.

👍 Let’s start the day with some actual news rather than conjecture. The Jets made one signing on day one and it was re-signing one of their own.

🏈 The Jets announced that they had re-signed kicker Greg Zuerlein to a new one-year deal worth up to $3.5 million with incentives. Zuerlein made 81.1% of his kicks last year and 96.6% of his extra points. He was a perfect 100% on kicks under 40 yards, but just 54% on kicks over 50 yards. He’s a good kicker and the Jets needed stability at that position, they get it for another year.

🟢 Other notable Jets free agents are still available with Connor McGovern, George Fant, and Sheldon Rankins all failing to find a new home on day one.

🐬 However, Mike White did find a new home. The former Jets QB is heading back home to Florida after signing a 2-year deal worth up to $16 million with the Miami Dolphins. That’s a good deal for Mike who has a chance to start considering the continued health issues associated with Tua and his concussions. It’s also good money for a backup who has very little starting experience and his own history of injuries.

Whatever the Jets end up doing at quarterback, White will be missed in the locker room. He was a popular teammate as we saw last year and the coaches loved what he was able to do to give the team a much-needed jolt. With Zach likely to be the backup this year, the Jets simply could not afford to spend good money on another QB.

✍️ The Jets have put forth an amendment to be discussed at the owner’s meeting. The amendment is in relation to the crackback rule and the proposal is: "To expand the crackback prohibition to players who go in motion and go beyond the center to block ("split-flow block") a defender below the waist” - Considering the system the Jets run, this is a bold move.

🧀 Right, let’s get down to the Aaron Rodgers situation. I’m really hoping this is the last TJW where we need to talk about Rodgers's speculation. But this is what we “know” ahead of day two: