Jets’ first free agency moves are a pile of bad decisions that will keep their awful playoff trend alive
We are officially at the start of the new league year and that means we can take a look at what the Jets have done to their roster to finally end the 14-year playoff drought. The Jets began this offseason by informing Aaron Rodgers that the team would be “moving in a different direction” this […]
We are officially at the start of the new league year and that means we can take a look at what the Jets have done to their roster to finally end the 14-year playoff drought.
The Jets began this offseason by informing Aaron Rodgers that the team would be “moving in a different direction” this season and that he would be released. This is a move I disagree with, but I understand. There are new coaches and a new regime, and they don’t want the circus that comes with Rodgers as their quarterback. I get that.
Designating Rodgers as a post June 1st cut means the Jets will have to carry his $23.5 million cap hit until June 1 and won't receive any cap relief until that point. By designating him a post-June 1 release, the Jets will save $9.5 million in cap space while taking on a $14 million dead-cap penalty in 2025, and $35 million in 2026. Again, not the route I would have gone, but I understand it.
I would prefer to take the 2025 season to right the ship and go into 2026 fresh. That is going to be my central theme here. This is not a team that is built, or in my opinion, can be built for some sort of Cinderella run in 2025, and the organization needs to think bigger than eeking into the playoffs to end the drought.
So, with that in mind the Jets went into free agency. Here are the grades for the Jets moves so far.
Signed
LB Jamien Sherwood, 3-year $45 million. 2025 Cap hit $5 million
While technically not a free agent signing considering he was on the team in 2024 and re-signed before the legal tampering period opened, it’s still a significant deal.
Sherwood, the fourth-year player out of Auburn and converted safety was one of the lone bright spots for the Jets in 2024. If Darren Mougey allowed Sherwood to hit the free agent market they were likely to have competition for Sherwood’s services. Sherwood made it clear that he wanted to return to the Jets, and most thought the linebacker would be a $8-$10 million a year player. He demolished that number earning an average of $15 million per season from the Jets.
This is a classic case of love the player, hate the deal. I thought the Jets overpaid for an off-ball linebacker, but if they had to spend a few extra dollars to keep one of their own happy and be the captain of their defense, then it’s not the worst move to make.
Grade: B
QB Justin Fields, 2-year $40 million. 2025 Cap hit $8 million
The former Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is going to get another opportunity to start in New York. The Jets were dead last in the NFL last season in rush attempts and Fields will certainly fix that stat. Fields played with Garrett Wilson at Ohio State and the two are excited to be reunited together.
Fields has never been a good quarterback, relying on his legs to move the chains. In today’s NFL that might win you a game but it won’t win you a championship. If the Jets ceiling is to be a wild card team to get the playoff drought monkey off their back, this was a fine signing. But I don’t see how giving Fields $20 million a season helps this franchise at all. There were better and cheaper options available. They saving grace for this deal was that it was only two years, but I don’t love the structure of the deal considering it is a $23 million cap hit in 2026.
Grade: D+
CB Brandon Stephens, 3-year $36 million. Specific Contract details aren’t out yet
The Jets grabbed Stephens to be their number two corner opposite Sauce Gardner. Stephens is still young at 27-years old. A third-round pick out of SMU by the Baltimore Ravens he started every game for them the pass two seasons.
In those two seasons, Stephens was targeted more than any other corner in the NFL. He gave up 31 first downs and 706 yards last season. The Jets’ new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks likes to be aggressive and blitz a lot. This will leave his corners one-on-one and signing a guy who gets beat in those scenarios regularly is head scratching more. For $36 million the Jets could have done a lot better. This was a bargain bin player that the Jets gave prime money to. He was outside of almost ever top 100 free agency list including ESPN and NFL Network.
Grade: F
S Andre Cisco, 1-year $10 million
Cisco comes from the Jacksonville Jaguars and is a local kid, growing up in Valley Stream, NY and attending Syracuse. He began his career in a backup role but quickly established himself as a key contributor in Jacksonville's secondary over the next few seasons, recording eight interceptions and 203 tackles. Cisco started 14 of the 16 games in which he appeared last season, finishing with 68 tackles (44 solo) and seven pass breakups, including one interception. He is only 24-years old.
Cisco’s injuries throughout his career have been an issue and he has a lot of football left to be played. Maybe the Jets see the potential in this kid and maybe they can unlock it. He will be thrown right into the fire.
Grade: C+
EDGE Rashad Weaver, 1-year deal. Contract details aren't out yet
Who? The former fourth round pick by the Tennessee Titans gets a one year deal from the Jets. He only played three games last year. He had zero sacks in 15 games with the Titans in 2023 but he did have 5.5 sacks in 2022.
This is a fringe roster guy. He was cut last year by the Titans and was essentially a practice squad player. The only thing I would say about this deal is that these are usually guys that are signed in the coming weeks. Not before the legal tampering period ends.
Grade: C-
Overall Grade so far: D
In case you haven’t noticed, I absolutely loathe the direction this franchise is going. They are signing young players off down years, but they are signing them to big market contracts. They are losing a lot of good players with bad or no plans to replace them. In a thin RT market, they should have either re-signed Morgan Moses weeks ago or had some sort of plan to replace him. I imagine their idea is to solve a lot of these problems at the bargain bin of free agency and the draft, but I have rarely seen that work out for this team.
There are a lot more deals to come including a tight end, a number two wide receiver, a right tackle and someone to play next to Quinnen Williams on the d-line. The problem is, most of the names available aren’t going to get fans excited.
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