Let’s check in on the latest from the AFC East:
- The Jets have had discussions with running back Chris Ivory‘s camp about a new contract for the free agent-to-be, but the likelihood is that he’ll hit the market and find a bigger payday elsewhere, according to the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta. Ivory, who will turn 28 in March, set career highs last season in carries (247), rushing yards (1,070) and total touchdowns (eight).
- There was a report earlier this week that the Dolphins “definitely” want to keep Lamar Miller, who could join Ivory on the free agent running back market next month. For his part, Miller told WQAM on Friday that he “would love to stay” with the club, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The soon-to-be 25-year-old added that his goal going forward is 20 touches per contest, saying, “I want to be a featured back. I want the recognition I deserve.” Miller averaged just over 15 touches a game last season and made the most of his usage, averaging 4.5 yards per rush, grabbing 47 receptions and totaling 10 TDs.
- Defenders Chris Long and James Laurinaitis are available after the Rams released the pair Friday, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com examined whether it would make sense for the Patriots to pursue them. Reiss doesn’t see a clear fit in either case. The Pats have plenty of depth at Long’s position – defensive end – while Laurinaitis would fall behind Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower in their linebacker pecking order, Reiss notes.
- On the other hand, Long and Laurinaitis could make sense for the Dolphins, James Walker of ESPN.com writes. Laurinaitis would fill a need at linebacker for Miami, per Walker, and Long is a potential fallback option if the team is unable to retain pending free agent pass rusher Olivier Vernon.
Yes! Yes! Yes! /DanielBryan All I want for the Patriots is James Laurinaitis. And, you know, maybe Alshon Jeffery…
Coming from a big OSU and Pats fan just please give me this 1 wish. Laurinaitis needs to be a Patriot. We need a 3rd LB so why not crunch the numbers
That’s the thing, Laurinaitis can take the cap space that would have been allotted for Mayo. What, $6M? That might be enough, and if it’s not, it should at least be close.
While the chances are high that, as much as the Jets may want to keep Ivory, their cap situation and the number of other priority FAs that they want to re-sign could make an Ivory reunion much less likely to happen, taking Manish Mehta’s word for it is not advisable, to say the least. Mehta is a writer for one of NYC’S biggest headline hogs, the Daily News, and I sometimes wonder if their main priority is not to report news but to try to fabricate it by writing sensational headlines based on half truths, at best, and then hoping to create a buzz that makes them look knowledgeable and competent.
The sad truth is that much of what Mehta writes is inaccurate and overbliwn. Remember, this is the same guy who wrote about the mutual interest that the Jets and Colin Kaepernick supposedly had for each other, and that story was 99% fiction.
For the Jets to keep Ivory, many things have to happen just right, and I’d bet against it right now, even though both sides probably would rather have a reunion in 2016. But don’t take this writer’s say so on the subject.