Let's talk about depth baby...
Jets continue to add pieces to the 2022 roster.
The weather almost tricked me into thinking it was summer this morning and seeing all these spring training photos from Arizona and Florida only added to the delusion.
NFL free agency continues to simmer in the background, and while Von Miller’s arrival in the AFC East doesn’t fill me with joy, the Jets continued to make some savvy moves to improve their chances of climbing out of the basement in 2022.
Throughout this process, I’d actually forgotten that Tyler Conklin was a free agent. I was keen for the Jets to add to the position and thought Maxx Williams was the right man to add, but it’s hard to argue that Conklin wasn’t an excellent bit of business.
The Jets have really invested in their TE room this off-season dedicating $48 million across two players, as outlined by Ralph Vacchiano. The Jets had arguably the worst TE room in the country last year, so it’s really not a surprise to see them attack it with gusto.
Conklin enjoyed a breakout season with the Vikings in 2021 catching 61 passes for 593 yards and 3 touchdowns. He had just one drop and made several notable plays blocking in the run game, something the Jets will always prioritize from the position with a Kyle Shanahan disciple at the helm.
One thing I will say is that considering the clips doing the rounds on Twitter, you’d think Conklin was the best blocking TE in the league. Having spoken to several Vikings fans, they’ve said that’s not really the case. He can be a very good blocker, but he has several whiffs on tape as well, one fan who I’ve known for a long time said “His strong hands will get you out of holes his blocking inconsistency likely caused”.
If you add Conklin to Uzomah, you get a deadly duo that can help Zach Wilson vault his game to the next level. Throw in year two of Kenny Yeboah and the potential that a rookie may come on board and the Jets finally have something to be excited about with the position.
Draft Consequences
In my opinion, this does almost guarantee that the Jets won’t use a premium draft asset on a tight end. It would be a strange use of assets to hand out $48 million and spend a first or second-round pick on a position group like TE. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Jets jumped on the depth of this draft by taking someone like Charlie Kolar from Iowa State or Jake Ferguson from Wisconsin if they started to fall down the draft.
The signing of Jacob Martin is a little more puzzling.
Martin is a 242lb defensive end who plays the LEO position known for being a bit of a liability in the run game and a missed tackle machine.
The Jets last year were horrible against the run, one of the worst units in the league…and we also missed a fair few tackles.
Having watched some tape and having spoken to a few Houston fans, he doesn’t seem like a great scheme fit. I also tend to judge opposing fans reactions to signings. When we signed Whitehead a ton of Bucs fans were devastated…when we signed Martin a ton of Texans fans seemed to be delighted.
I think Joe Douglas has earned our trust, and at the end of the day there is only $6 million guaranteed on his contract, so it’s a small gamble.
Martin does have + burst, so if he’s used as a situational pass rusher there is some logic to the signing. He’s also only 26 years old, so there’s a case that he’s only just scratching the surface of what he could become.
When Lovie Smith transformed the Houston defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 before the 2021 season it was expected that Jacob Martin would be a beneficiary, and that turned out to be true. Martin played over 400 snaps for the first time (700) and recorded career highs in pressures (38) and tied a career-high in sacks (4).
He does need to work on his tackling, he has a career missed tackle rate of 32.2%, and while you expect defensive ends to have a slightly elevated missed tackle rate, that’s certainly too high, and his 28.6% from 2021 is certainly too high, especially when you consider that among the Jets edge defenders Bryce Huff had the highest missed tackle rate at 16.7%.
The Jets decided to tender kicker Eddy Pineiro for one year and $2.4 million. That makes perfect sense considering his performance in 2021. He hit 8/8 field goals with the Jets including a 51 yarder.
He was 23/28 with the Bears in 2020 with a long of 53 yards. His issues came between 40-49 yards where he was just 3/7. There are some questions around his leg strength but he couldn’t have done more with the Jets.
This doesn’t guarantee him the 2021 kicking job, and I fully expect the Jets to bring in another kicker to challenge him through training camp.
Is there a trade brewing?
There has been a lot of chatter around the Jets and a potential “big” trade on the horizon. A number of people including Connor Hughes have hinted at it. Joe Douglas did say during his end-of-season press conference that he would explore the option of trading for a proven starter if the right deal came up.
There’s a fair bit of hypothesizing here and it’s a good theory, Joe Douglas said he’d be aggressive and open to adding a proven NFL player in exchange for draft capital, and the contracts signed have maintained 2022 cap flexibility.
Who could it be you ask?
It almost makes too much sense for the Jets to trade for Hunter. They were apparently in on Chandler Jones but he decided to sign with Las Vegas, so why would they not be open to trading assets for a 27-year-old who has 60.5 career sacks?
The Vikings want to move him, the Jets want to acquire an elite pass-rusher to pair with Carl Lawson, let’s get this deal done.
AFC East - Free Agency Signings
In time we’re going to take a detailed look at all our opponent’s signings, but for now, I thought it would be handy to quickly mention what our AFC East opponents have done so far this Free Agency.
Buffalo Bills
Titans OG Rodger Saffold (1 year)
Buccaneers TE O.J. Howard (1 year, $3.5 million)
Commanders DT Tim Settle (2 years)
Rams OLB Von Miller (6 years, $120 million)
CB Siran Neal (3 years, $10.9 million)
Buccaneers TE O.J. Howard (1 year, $3.5 million)
Quick Thoughts - This class so far is about two players, Von Miller is one of the biggest fishes around and he’ll improve any team. O.J Howard is an absolute bargain at $3.5 million and he’ll be another dangerous weapon for Josh Allen, we’ve all been waiting for him to put it all together, and I wouldn’t bet against him doing it with the Bills.
Miami Dolphins
Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater (1 year, $6.5 million)
Cardinals RB Chase Edmonds (2 years, $12.6 million)
49ers RB Raheem Mostert (1 year, $3.125 million)
Raiders FB Alec Ingold (2 years, $7.5 million)
Cowboys WR Ced Wilson (3 years, $22.8 million)
49ers WR Trent Sherfield (1 year,
TE Mike Gesicki (franchise tag)
Cowboys OG Connor Williams (2 years, $14 million)
LB Sam Eguavoen (1 year, $2 million)
LB Elandon Roberts (1 year, $3.25 million)
LB Duke Riley (1 year, $3 million)
CB Keion Crossen (3 years, $10.5 million)
S Sheldrick Redwine (1 year)
Quick Thoughts: The Dolphins have signed a lot of players, and they’ve made a couple of nice additions. The 2 year $14 million deal for Connor Williams is an absolute steal and Ingold is a good signing considering the system they’re going to be running. Teddy Bridge is one of the best backup QB’s in the league and Edmonds can be extremely dangerous.
New England Patriots
QB Brian Hoyer (2 years, $4 million)
RB James White (2 years, $5 million)
OL James Ferentz (1 year)
Browns LB Mack Wilson (via trade)
S Devin McCourty (1 year, $9 million)
ST Matthew Slater (1 year, $2.62 million)
K Nick Folk (2 years, $5 million)
Quick thoughts: Patriots haven’t been huge players this year, they’ve concentrated their resources on re-signing their own players. But there isn’t a lot of movement in here that will help their offense take the step needed to compete for a title. They’ve also lot their best defensive player in JC Jackson.
Martin seems to be a Pass Rush specialist , taking the role of Vinny Curry. Contract structures are taking advantage of the potential rise in the 2023 CAP Estimated to be 20 million