Perception Changers

Edition #352

Good morning! ☀️

Free agency is slowly chugging along. The Jets were never going to be big players to start the frenzy, but I think most of us thought they’d be slightly busier than they have been. I’m not overly concerned about the lack of activity to this point, but I’m also not silly enough to believe that there isn’t a significant amount of work to do.

The Jets will continue working in the background and they’re certainly not close to being done yet. As I said yesterday my Twitter mentions and DMs are starting to fill with a little impatience, but for a team like the Jets, free agency is young.

Today I’m going to talk through a few potential signings that switch the perception from JD “asleep at the wheel” as someone said to me yesterday, to JD “shrewd businessman”.

😱 Daniel Jeremiah released his mock draft 3.0 yesterday and surprisingly had the Jets taking Georgia Edge Nolan Smith, an explosive rusher who is a little undersized for the position. DJ’s reason was that the Jets would likely lose Bryce Huff after next season (not sure why), and Lawson would be gone. It’s even more surprising considering tackles Paris Johnson and Broderick Jones were still on the board with the Jets picking. I like Nolan, I’m just not sure he’s much of a fit here in terms of immediate impact.

✅ Mel Kiper stayed a little more traditional in his recent mock, projecting the Jets to take offensive tackle Broderick Jones out of Georgia. In this scenario, both Paris Johnson and Pete Skoronski are already gone. I'd be happy with all three of those players.

📈 NFL.com released some power rankings this week based on the first week of free agency and the Jets jumped all the way to #9 overall based nearly solely on a player that isn’t even a Jet yet: “The process has been excruciating for all involved, but Aaron Rodgers is on track to be a member of the Jets come September. Operating under that reality, it's not a stretch to say that the arrival of the four-time MVP will make New York a very real Super Bowl contender. Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas have already built an elite defense; replacing the overmatched Zach Wilson with Rodgers should have an enormous impact on the other side of the ball. Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, and Elijah Moore make up a compelling wide receiver room, Breece Hall has star potential at running back and the offensive line should be improved after an injury-wrecked 2022. Bringing Rodgers to New York is an undeniable gamble -- but it comes with massive upside that can reshape the franchise.”

✍️ The Jets have hired Shaq Wilson as their new assistant defensive line coach. Shaq Comes from South Carolina where he was a defensive analyst. He will replace Greg Scruggs, who left the Jets to join Wisconsin.

Let’s just take a moment to go through a quick overview of the moves the Jets have made so far this off-season:

Players Added/Re-Signed

S - Chuck Clark via trade with Baltimore (7th round pick)
LB - Quincy Williams (re-signed)
K - Greg Zuerlein (re-signed)
WR - Allen Lazard (signed from the Green Bay Packers)
DE - Bryce Huff (2nd round tendered)
DT - Solomon Thomas (re-signed)
G/C - Wes Schweitzer (signed from the Washington Commanders)
FB - Nick Bawden (re-signed)
C - Trystan Colon-Castillo (signed from the Baltimore Ravens
P - Thomas Morestead (signed from the Miami Dolphins)

Players Lost

WR - Braxton Berrios (Miami Dolphins)
QB - Mike White (Miami Dolphins)
G/C - Dan Feeney (Miami Dolphins)
DT - Nathan Shepherd (New Orleans Saints)
DT - Sheldon Rankins (New Orleans Saints)
OG - Nate Herbig (Pittsburgh Steelers)
RB - James Robinson (New England Patriots)
WR - Jeff Smith (New York Giants)

So in total. we have either signed or re-signed 10 players and lost 8 players to rival teams. The Jets still have a number of free agents who have yet to find a home. Among those players are OT George Fant, OC Connor McGovern, S LaMarcus Joyner, LB Kwon Alexander, DE Vinny Curry, and OT Cedric Ogbuehi. Chances are one or two of these players will find their way back to the Jets, hopefully, Kwon is one, and depending on the cost, I wouldn’t hate having George Fant back for offensive tackle depth.

Here are five signings the Jets could still make over the course of the off-season which would make me feel a lot better about our chances in 2023.