With Antonio Cromartie no longer in the mix in New York, the Jets have turned their attention to other notable free agent defensive backs. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported late last night that the Jets were eyeing safety T.J. Ward, and he hears today from a team source that the club has also inquired on several other DBs. According to Mehta (via Twitter), New York has “varying degrees of interest” in safety Chris Clemons and cornerbacks Alterraun Verner and Captain Munnerlyn. Here are a few more Monday rumors relating to AFC teams:
- The Jets continue to negotiate with Austin Howard, but other teams have expressed interest in the free agent tackle, tweets Brian Costello of the New York Post.
- We heard earlier today that defensive lineman Antonio Smith has drawn interest from four teams, and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean thinks the Titans are probably one of those clubs (Twitter link).
- The Steelers are among the clubs to inquire on free agent cornerback Nolan Carroll, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
- Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link) hears that there’s only $5.255MM of guaranteed money in Red Bryant‘s four-year contract with the Jaguars, making it a fairly low-risk move for the club.
- Long snapper Danny Aiken‘s new one-year deal with the Patriots includes a $55K signing bonus and $25K workout bonus on top of his minimum base salary, says Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter).