With their new leadership team in place, the Jets will navigate the free agency waters beginning Monday when the NFL's negotiating window opens at noon, EDT. Then the league's year will commence Wednesday at 4 p.m. EDT when all deals agreed to during the negotiation period become official and players with expiring contracts are allowed to sign deals with any team.
"We're looking for smart, tough, aggressive and resilient players," said HC Aaron Glenn. "We're going to do everything we can to find those guys, and listen, you can find them in all different spots – small schools, big-time schools, trades, wherever we can find them we're going to try to bring them on this team."
While the Jets have uncertainty at quarterback, Glenn has emphasized the importance of team at every turn.
"We're going to bring in competition at every position," he told reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last week. "It's not just the quarterback position. That can be D-tackle, DB, linebacker, doesn't matter. The nature of this game is competing, and we're going to do that at every position."
Prior to the start of free agency, the Jets announced their intentions to move on from QB Aaron Rodgers and also released WR Davante Adams. If the Jets designate Rodgers a post-June 1 release, they'll reportedly save $9.5 million in cap space and take on $14 million in dead cap in 2025 and $35 million in 2026. They also reportedly will save $29.8 million in cap space after the Adams release and absorb a $8.3 million dead cap penalty.
With the NFL salary $279.2 million per team, the Jets have several needs and enough financial flexibility to address some holes prior to April's NFL Draft in Green Bay.
"Once we had that staff intact and had the staff in place, one of the first things we did was we got all the coaches and the scouts in a room to talk about what we'll be looking for in Jets players moving forward," said GM Darren Mougey. "Some position specific stuff, some schematic things, and just makeup, what we're looking for in players. It was a really good process, some good dialogue there."
Quarterback
The Jets head into free agency with Tyrod Taylor as their only experienced passer. Taylor, 35,has a 28-28-1 mark as a starter with a 61.9 completion %, 68 TDs and 29 INTs. He also has also rushed for 19 scores. Aaron Glenn said Taylor is a good player and he currently leads a group that includes Jordan Travis, who spent his rookie season on the NFI, and Adrian Martinez.
"We're going to exhaust all options," said GM Darren Mougey in Indianapolis. "Obviously, there's a lot of intriguing prospects here this week at the Combine, we'll dive into that, some in free agency and we'll keep all options open at quarterback and really every position on the team."
The free agency QB crop may include Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Marcus Mariota, Mac Jones, Jameis Winston, Carson Wentz, Cooper Rush, Jimmy Garoppolo and Drew Lock, among others. It will be interesting to see if the Jets not only add a QB in free agency but come back and select a developmental prospect in the draft.
Jets Free Agents
The Jets have 27 potential free agents – 23 whom are UFAs. The headliners are CB D.J. Reed, LB Jamien Sherwood, RT Morgan Moses and TE Tyler Conklin. Edge Haason Reddick, who had 50.5 sacks from 2020-23, appeared in 10 games for the Jets last season and finished with 1 sack and 3 QB hits. He also will hit the market.
Secondary Shuffle
The Jets could have a complete renovation around CB Sauce Gardner and nickel back Michael Carter II. D.J. Reed, who had 32 PDs with the Jets in 2022-24, will test free agency and reserve corner/valuable special teams contributor Brandin Echols also has an expiring contract. The cornerback class includes a player who is quite familiar with Aaron Glenn – Lions CB Carlton Davis. Six-time Pro Bowler Darius Slay, released by the Eagles this week, had 13 PDs last season and is expected to have multiple suitors. Byron Murphy (Minnesota), Paulson Adebo (New Orleans), Rasul Douglas (Buffalo), Charvarius Ward (San Francisco) and Jourdan Lewis (Dallas) all could find new homes. The Jets have three safeties who are UFAs in Chuck Clark (12 starts, 69 tackles), Ashtyn Davis (8 career INTs, 3 FF and 4 FR) and Jalen Mills (8 starts, 44 tackles) while Tony Adams (11 starts, 84 tackles and 6 PDs) is a RFA. Speaking of Detroit, veteran Ifeatu Melifonwu showcased his versatility under Glenn while playing multiple spots in the defensive backfield. The safety group also features Jevon Holland (Miami), Talanoa Hufanga (San Francisco), Tre'Von Moehrig (Las Vegas), Justin Reid (Kansas City), Camryn Bynum (Minnesota), Justin Simmons (Atlanta), Jeremy Chinn (Washington) and Julian Blackmon (Indianapolis).
Target Time
The Jets have a young star at receiver in Garrett Wilson, but the pieces will change around him next season. Wilson, who led the club in receptions (101) and receiving yards (1,104), also set a career high with 7 TDs. He'll lead a reshaped WR room after Davante Adams (67-854-12.7-7TD) was released and Allen Lazard (37-530-14.3-6TD) could be on the move as well. There are some big names out there at receiver, but the Jets have their No. 1 and some pundits believe former Lions WR Tim Patrick could make sense based on his familiarity with HC Aaron Glenn, GM Darren Mougey and OC Tanner Engstrand. At TE, Tyler Conklin (51-449-8.8-4TD) and reserve/special teamer Kenny Yeboah have expiring contracts. While the Jets may address TE in free agency, some draft prognosticators believe Penn State's Tyler Warren would provide good value with the No. 7 overall selection in the draft.
Line of Scrimmage
Tackle will come into focus on both sides of the ball. Olu Fashanu will take over full-time LT duties from Tyron Smith, but RT Mogan Moses is a free agent. The Jets have three defensive tackles with expiring contracts and may opt for some new company next to Quinnen Williams. Aaron Glenn most recently coached up Levin Onswuzurike in Detroit while GM Darren Mougey was part of a Denver staff that signed DT D.J. Jones in free agency in 2022. Jones was part of a culture change with the Broncos and he could cash in once again this spring.
