Jets sign final two draft picks as camp begins
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023 New York Jets! Complete (maybe) and live for your viewing pleasure. The 2023 New York Jets are the first team to have both rookies and veterans report to training camp which begins today. Other teams around the league had their rookies report earlier this week but only the Jets have […]
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023 New York Jets! Complete (maybe) and live for your viewing pleasure.
The 2023 New York Jets are the first team to have both rookies and veterans report to training camp which begins today. Other teams around the league had their rookies report earlier this week but only the Jets have the veterans reporting today.
The Cleveland Browns will have their vets report on Friday as the Jets and Browns get ready to play the Hall of Fame Game Thursday August 3, one week before any other teams face off in the preseason.
The Jets will not only see their veterans at camp today, but their rookies as well. All of them. The Jets officially signed their last two remaining members of the 2023 draft class today.
The Jets signed first round pick Will McDonald IV to his four-year deal. According to Spotrac, the contract is projected to be a four-year deal with a fifth-year option worth about $16.3 million with a signing bonus of about $8.9 million and a 2023 cap hit just under $3 million.
McDonald was seen skating into the facility to get that deal signed.
The Athletic’s Dane Bruger had McDonald projected as a second-round pick. Bruger says of McDonald “Overall, heis more toolsy than seasoned and might never become the sum of his parts, but his natural length, flexibility and explosiveness are an enticing combination. He projects as a subpackage pass rusher as an NFL rookie with the potential to be more down the road.”
Robert Saleh was very high on McDonald in OTAs. “Will looks the part. I love his personality. He is a dude, man. He’s got tremendous length, his bend, just going through drills. Obviously, there’s things from a developmental standpoint, all rookies go through it with regards to a little bit more size, a little bit more power, developing the ability to run through tackles is always going to be the biggest thing for a defensive lineman, but I love where he’s at right now, he’s got a long way to go, but you guys know as we rotate, if they dress on gameday, they’re going to play at least 20. He’ll be part of the rotation.”
With McDonald signed, that leaves six first-round picks from this year’s draft class remaining without a contract: Carolina Panthers' Bryce Young, Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud, Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson, Seattle Seahawks’ Devon Witherspoon, Washington Commanders’ Emmanuel Forbes and New England Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez.
The Jets also officially signed second round pick, offensive lineman Joe Tippmann. Per Spotrac, Tippmann’s deal is projected to be four years and worth about $8.4 million with a $3 million signing bonus and a cap hit this year of about $1.5 million.
AtoZ Sports’ Parker Mosley broke down why Joe Tippmann is going to be such a special player for the Jets. Tippmann will likely make much more of an impact on the Jets in his first season than McDonald. While McDonald will be a rotational piece, it is very likely that Tippmann becomes the starting center.
Barring a Dalvin Cook signing, this is the team the Jets will take into the 2023 season. The road to a Super Bowl starts today for the New York Jets.
All the draft grades are in for the Jets
Joe Douglas is known for is savvy trades and his stellar 2022 draft class sweeping both the offensive and defensive rookie of the year awards with Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner respectively. With most of the headlines for the Jets 2023 offseason centered around the acquisition of Aaron Rodgers, it may be easy to forget […]
Featured Image via Jonathan Jones-USA TODAY Sports
