Possible Free Agent Additions 📥

Edition #401

Good morning! ☕

The Jets are back out for OTA’s today and it’ll be interesting to see if Aaron Rodgers practices. Not that it matters in the slightest, but anything Aaron Rodgers does or doesn’t do is news in any media market, but especially in New York.

I forgot to mention yesterday that a couple of players have been making statements in OTA so far this Spring, outside of the guys you’d expect (hello Garrett Wilson). Jeremy Ruckert is one name that keeps popping up in the practice reports, and the other is Jerome Kapp, the UDFA receiver out of Kutztown. I’ve been speaking to Jerome, along with his college coordinator and I’ll be bringing you a deep dive on Kapp next week. So make sure you get yourself subscribed for that one.

🥺 NFL.com released a number of bold predictions for the 2023 season and the one that caught my eye was “Sam Darnold beats Jets in Super Bowl” which would be the final middle finger from the universe to Gang Green. “So there you have it: 49ers over Jets in the Las Vegas Super Bowl. Pencil it in. And pencil Darnold into the starting lineup. Is there a chance Purdy eventually is good to go and retakes the reins? Sure. But at the outset of summer, Darnold's in the catbird seat. And I still believe he has the natural talent to take advantage of an enviable situation.”

🏆 PFF outlined every team’s 3 best players in an article on Wednesday. For the Jets, they had the three that you’d probably expect, Aaron Rodgers, Quinnen Williams, and Sauce Gardner. Garrett Wilson was unfortunate to miss out, but I’m not sure who you’d replace with him. “The Jets’ roster is playoff ready, and because of that, this exercise was tough for them (in a good way). Williams has become the dominant interior player we thought he would be coming out of Alabama. He earned an elite 90.0 grade this past season with a career-high 52 pressures. Sauce Gardner put together one of the best rookie seasons we’ve ever recorded as the top coverage player (90.8) in the entire league. Rodgers had a bit of a down campaign in 2022, but he’s still just one year removed from back-to-back MVP seasons. He still has to make this list, though Garrett Wilson made it a toss-up”

1️⃣🥇 PFF also had an article on the best cornerbacks in football heading into next year, and Sauce Gardner came in at #1: “Gardner hit the ground running in the NFL and was the best cornerback in the game during his rookie season. He allowed a 53.9 passer rating, and just 45.9% of passes thrown into his coverage were caught by their intended receiver. We know coverage in general, and cornerback play in particular, is highly volatile, so Gardner could regress in 2023. But there is no obvious lockdown cornerback who belongs atop this list in his place.” He came in just in front of Miami’s Jalen Ramsey.

🔑 NFL.com also ranked the hiring of Hackett as the most important assistant hire of the off-season: “The good news for Hackett is that the bar is understandably low in New York. The Jets were one of the few decent teams that had more debilitating quarterback play than the Broncos last year, and that ineptitude cost New York a shot at the playoffs. All Hackett needs to do is help Rodgers be Rodgers. That doesn't mean the quarterback has to be the player who won league MVP honors in 2020 and 2021. He just needs to stay healthy, acclimate quickly and everything else will take care of itself. The Jets already have tremendous resources around the veteran quarterback, including a terrific defense, an assortment of talented skill players and a smart head coach in Robert Saleh. It also helps that Hackett and Rodgers have an obvious bond, one that certainly had to make Hackett an attractive candidate to succeed Mike LaFleur (Matt's brother) as offensive coordinator.”

1️⃣2️⃣ Tom Brady believes that Aaron Rodgers moving to a new team will bring invigoration back for the veteran. Appearing on the Rich Eisen show, the longtime Jets nemesis said: “I think he’s going to do a great job, he is a tremendous player, great competitor, and I think this kind of breathes a lot of fresh air and invigoration into going to a different team and wanting to prove yourself all over again, I think we all have that spirit about us that we started off in the NFL and we had something to prove. The team that drafted us, God there was a lot of freshness to it and you took it and you really attacked it. I see that with him too.”

📈 NFL analyst Bucky Brooks named Alijah Vera-Tucker in his 2023 NFL All-Breakout Team: The ultra-versatile blocker has displayed all-star potential at offensive guard and offensive tackle. Vera-Tucker has snuffed out elite pass rushers on the edges and bullied defenders in the trenches, showcasing a unique set of skills that are hard to find in trench warriors. With more eyes on the Jets following Aaron Rodgers' arrival, the talented technician should receive the respect and recognition he deserves as a premier offensive lineman. 

It’s easy to forget the talent that’s still available in the free-agency pool. Once the hoopla dies down from the first and second waves, the players who remain are largely forgotten until the signing is announced.

There are actually hundreds of free agents with NFL experience drifting on the free agency wire. Some are waiting for the right opportunity and some are desperate for that phone to ring, whether the caller ID shows Charlotte or California.

I took a look through the remaining free agents and outlined five below who the Jets may be interested in, if not now, then closer to training camp.