Cut Season in the NFL

Edition #589

Good morning.

As someone who was made redundant last year, I know what it feels like to wake up one morning and be told you’re no longer needed. I didn’t have the millions of $$’s that a lot of these NFL players have, but a lot of these guys will now need to uproot their families and move across the country in search of new opportunities. Buffalo took a hatchet to their roster yesterday and some marquee players have now joined the growing list of available free agents.

Today we’re going to have a look at some of those names and whether the Jets should be interested. Grab that coffee, it’s Friday TJW.

Aaron Rodgers made an appearance on the “Keep Hammering Collective” podcast and I have to say it’s a great interview that runs well over 90 minutes. If you have that time available, I’d recommend it, if you don’t, here are some key points about the Jets. He outlined the need to shore up the offensive line and add a weapon and while he admitted that Joe Douglas involves him in the conversations on additions, Joe Douglas is responsible for his job. On his health, he stated: "I gotta stay healthy, beat back Father Time a few more years. I like our chances. I like our guys. I like our coaching staff. We have to put it all together. We've got a fan base that's super, super hungry and desperate for wins...I feel like if I'm out there, we've always got a chance."

Rodgers did outline two players he hoped the Jets would re-sign, punter Thomas Morstead and kicker Greg Zuerlein, calling them weapons. I think it’s absolutely key to have those guys back and I’m still hoping that both sign before the free agency gong next week.

A new report indicated that Jeff Ulbrich and San Francisco had a mutual interest in him becoming the new defensive coordinator for Kyle Shanahan but the Jets made it clear that they would block any attempt at him leaving. I was a little surprised that he didn’t receive any head coaching interviews in the off-season, but I think if the defence shows up again next year Jeff will be off. The Jets must start developing a plan to replace him, ideally with someone in-house who can maintain the system. Marquand Manuel seems to be an obvious candidate considering the interest he received from other teams this off-season.

Is Brock Bowers an option for the Jets at #10? According to one unnamed NFL executive, the Jets picking Bowers would be “malpractice”, speaking to Mike Sando he said - “When you are picking in the top 10 and you need offensive line help and you take a tight end, that is malpractice,” the exec explained to Sando in a column posted on Wednesday, March 6. “You can’t do that. That is just ridiculous.”

NFL.com had an article outlining players who could be underpriced and some who could be overpriced, and they had Bryce Huff in the first category saying: “Fresh off a season that saw him post a career-high 10 sacks, Huff's raw pass-rush numbers portend a massive contract. Check out any per-snap figure on Next Gen Stats, and Huff's name is usually near the top, alongside the likes of Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. Maybe he gets big bucks, but seeing how he entered the league as an undrafted free agent, pre-draft evaluations could put a ceiling on his offers. With questions about whether he can be an every-down player, Huff could wind up in a tier below the highly-paid edge rushers. In that scenario, where Huff takes a shorter or incentive-laden deal, he could wind up being underpaid if he proves those doubts superfluous.”

In that same article, there were some interesting notes on other players who the Jets could be interested in. In the underpriced section, you had QB Jacoby Brissett, WR Tyler Boyd and safety Jeremy Chinn. In the overpriced section, you had WR Marquise Brown who the Jets have been linked to and WR Gabe Davis who I like the idea of.

NFL teams are frantically trying to get their house in order before the start of free agency. For some teams like the Bills, there was a lot of work to do. Even with the cuts and restructures they’re still hovering around the salary limit, which means they’ll have to get creative if they hope to be players in the market next week.

They’re not the only ones, countless players have been cut over the last week or so and we’re going to focus on a few players in positions of need for the Jets.