Free Agency Frenzy: Day Two
What will today bring?
Good morning Jets fans. Over the next week, I’ve decided to post the newsletter as and when there is something to talk about, so somedays you may get two and others just the one. Once free agency is through I’ll return the sends to a regular and structured time.
What’s happened so far?
The Jets have been busy and smart, two of my favorite words when it comes to free agency. Here’s a look at all the moves they have made so far:
OG - Laken Tomlinson - 3 year $40 million deal, $27 million guaranteed. Max value of $41.2 million with incentives.
TE - C.J Uzomah - 3 year $24 million deal.
WR - Braxton Berrios - 2 year $12 million deal.
RB - Tevin Coleman - 1 year $1.5 million deal
The Jets had earlier re-signed Lamarcus Joyner, Conor McDermott, and Nik Bawden.
In time the full contract details will come out and we’ll look at how the Jets have structured each deal, but looking at the amounts it’s fair to say the Jets still have plenty of cap space to work with.
Rumors
Before we get into looking at the new guys, let’s just dive into a few rumors I’m hearing.
Disclaimer here, I don’t have any real sources and have never pretended to have sources, but I do talk to a lot of people around the game and around the Jets.
Jets, Raiders, and 49’ers are final players for Stephon Gilmore - Connor Hughes has been all over Gilmour for a while and plenty of people reported yesterday that the Jets are very real players here. Gilmour is the wrong side of 30, but he was still productive last year and he’d add a veteran leadership to a young position group.
Jets are prioritizing the safety position and are in on several options - This should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, but the Jets were on the phone to multiple safeties yesterday trying to get a difference-maker at the position. I’m not sure they’re going to pay what Marcus Williams is going to get paid but they are absolutely in on exploring that. Have said it for a while but Jayron Kearse is a name to watch here.
Jets are keen to add defensive tackle help - After losing Foley which was expected and planned for, the Jets want to bring in a defensive tackle before the draft. I haven’t heard any names mentioned in particular, but don’t count out a Sheldon Richardson return, that’s a name I heard a month or so ago but haven’t heard since.
Jets are not finished adding playmakers for Zach - The plan for free agency was to help Zach and put him in the best spot to succeed, they’ve started that by signing a pro bowl guard, a big tight end target in CJ, and one of his favorite receivers in Braxton Berrios, but they’re not done. Most consider the Jets reluctant to go to the lengths Jacksonville went to to get Kirk, but there are some WR’ers still on the board who could be had for a lot less. Russell Gage is a name someone mentioned to me last night, no idea if there is anything in that.
Jet Moves
The more I think about day one of free agency for the Jets, the more I love what they did. The plan this off-season was always to help Zach Wilson as much as possible, the Jets never did that with Sam and while I’m not sure he’d ever be a top QB…the Jets basically wrote the book on how to hurt your QB development.
The Jets are determined to not make the same mistake again.
I desperately wanted the Jets to address that RG spot in free agency, Laken Tomlinson was #1 on my board for the Jets. He just made so much sense.
Tomlinson grades out positively as both a run and pass blocker and he brings a bit of nasty to a line that was maybe missing that last season.
C.J Uzomah brings two key attributes to the Jets, big target and big leadership.
You talk to anyone in Cincinnati, any fans, any media members and they’ll all say the same thing, Uzomah is a leader in the locker room and out on the field.
The Jets have a very young team, and they need that kind of leadership. You look at what the Jets had at TE last year and then you look at CJ and his 49 catches, 493 yards, and 5 touchdowns.
The Jets improved that position dramatically without having to break the bank.
CJ instantly becomes the best TE we’ve had since 2011 and Dustin Keller…just think about that, 2011! That’s over a decade ago.
Chances are the Jets aren’t finished adding to that position either, they could double-dip in the free-agent market with O.J Howard and Maxx Williams still available, but odds are they wait for a packed draft to add more weapons for Zach.
One of the only areas where CJ could do with improvement is in the contested catch game.
The new Jet has caught 15 of 29 contested catches over the course of his career, which is a decent 51.7%…but at 6’6 and 260lbs, you’d want to see that number around 60-65%, that’s where guys like Mark Andrews, Dalton Schultz, Tyler Higbee sit.
Bringing Braxton back was a big deal for the Jets and a priority for the front office.
On one hand, he is one of the best returners in football, but my understanding is the Jets see him as so much more. He’ll get a chance at that starting slot position.
Reliability is a huge factor in this offense and for the development of a young QB, Braxton was reliable. He was reliable at staying on the field and he was reliable as a pass-catcher.
He caught the highest percentage of his targets and he had the lowest drop rate…that’s reliability.
When pressured, Braxton was Zach’s #1 target with 17 passes sent his way, Wilson trusted Berrios and now he gets to continue developing chemistry.
Predictions for day 2:
Jets will sign a safety, I’m not sure who I’m backing at this point but I think we’ll see a safety come on board.
Jets will sign a cornerback. There aren’t that many left on the board so I’m going with Gilmour here, but keep an eye on Darious Williams.
Jets will sign a lower grade wide receiver. I think Russell Gage or Marquez Valdes-Scantling makes sense here.