Extension, Extension, Extension

Edition #831

☀️ Good morning ☕

We’re going to take a quick break from the draft today to talk about contracts, and more importantly, contract extensions.

The Jets have already looked after one of their own in Jamien Sherwood, but Mougey has a lot of work to do if he wants to stay true to his introductory press promise to draft, develop and re-sign our own.

🟢 Did the Jets get better through free agency or did they get worse? According to PFF the answer is neither, they stayed the same. “The Jets' priority this offseason was to replace the departing Aaron Rodgers. On paper, they’ve done by signing Justin Fields, who earned a 71.0 grade with the Steelers in 2024 before Russell Wilson took over the starting job. The test now will be to see if Fields can be the long-term answer for the Jets. The only other multi-year deal for the Jets was signing Brandon Stephens to a three-year, $36 million. Stephens struggled with the Ravens in 2024, but the Jets will hope that he can be closer to his 2023 self when he earned a 67.4 grade. The Jets got younger, cutting ties with Adams, Rodgers and C.J. Mosley, and haven’t taken too many big swings.”

🟢 One of the signings I really liked in free agency was Andre Cisco, the New York native safety who’s been plying his trade in Jacksonville. He played his college ball in Syracuse and I was a big fan of his coming out. He’s only 25 but he’s already had 8 interceptions in 4 years to go with over 200 tackles and over 20 pass defences. He’s been speaking to the official site on why he signed and while NY was a big pull for him, so was Aaron Glenn - "Coach AG, obviously, has a great background, a great track record," he said. "I've known a few guys that played for him and have nothing but rave reviews. He has a great history of getting guys the ball and doing it right, so being part of that product was huge for me."

🟢 The Jets sent a big contingent down to Texas’s pro day yesterday which included Head Coach Aaron Glenn and Co-Director of Player Personnel Jon Carr. Glenn is from Humble Texas and finished his college career at Texas A&M. The Longhorns have a number of prospects that could interest the Jets so it’s not surprising to see them descend en-masse. Some of the prospects they’re likely taking a closer look at include offensive tackles Kelvin Banks Jr and Cameron Williams, receivers Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond, defensive tackles Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton, defensive backs Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba, quarterback Quinn Ewers, tight end Gunner Helm and edge Barryn Sorrell. All of whom are expected to hear their names called.

🟢 PFF had an interesting article on the best college quarterbacks by route. It was dominated by Cam Ward who came top on Slants, Outs, Ins, Corner and Crossing routes. Dillion Gabriel was #1 on wide screens, Kyle McCord was #1 on flats/speed outs, Cole Snyder was #1 on comebacks, Max Brosmer was #1 on hitches, Brett Gabbert was #1 on posts and Will Howard was #1 on Go’s. No sign of Sanders and no sign of Dart.

So far through free agency the Jets have been smart with their spending. They’ve spent $135,512,500 in total which is 15th highest in the league, they’ve handed out $93,572,500 in guarantees which is 10th, and in terms of first-year cash they’ve spent $53,012,500 which is 17th. Only 9 teams have signed fewer players and nearly the entire bulk of that spending was spent on three players (Jamien Sherwood, Justin Fields, Brandon Stephens).

They’ve avoided long-term commitments to maintain salary cap flexibility. According to Over The Cap they still have around $27 million this year, next year they have $97,573,520 which is the 7th highest and in 2027 they have $209,104,518 which again is a top 10 number (8th).