New York Notes: Claiborne, Mayfield, Giants

Morris Claiborne said shortly after the Jets‘ season concluded he would like to be back in New York. The sides will have to negotiate another contract, since Claiborne finished up a one-year deal, but Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets the Jets have begun negotiations with the UFA corner. Claiborne signed a $5MM deal with the Jets last season, and Gang Green will enter this offseason with far more cap room that it had a year ago. While a sizable chunk of that space could be used to chase Kirk Cousins, the Jets will have opportunities to build their roster they haven’t had in recent years. Pro Football Focus graded Claiborne poorly in 2017, but he played in the most games (15) he has since his 2012 rookie season and will only be 28 next season. He should generate some interest on the market. The Jets could save $6MM by cutting Buster Skrine, whom PFF did not rate much higher than Claiborne, and they will be in the market for corners this offseason regardless of how they proceed with Claiborne.

Here’s the latest out of the Big Apple:

• Baker Mayfield met with the Jets at the Senior Bowl and had a summit scheduled with the Giants, but that meeting never occurred, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports. Although Mayfield has not been mocked to the Giants much early in the pre-draft process, he would be on board with a develop-behind-Eli Manning scenario. “Throwing the ball to (Evan) Engram, Shep and Odell Beckham wouldn’t be too bad, there’s some studs right there,’’ said Mayfield, a college teammate of Sterling Shepard‘s. “Being there, it’s a big-time franchise and in the spotlight. I think I thrive on that. That would be an ideal situation.” The Giants are expected to take a quarterback at No. 2 overall but have made it clear this offseason they intend to keep Manning.
• The Jets are almost certainly going to pursue Cousins, but they also hold the draft’s No. 6 selection. If the Broncos land Cousins and pick a non-quarterback at 5, New York could be set to snag a passer. That could play into Josh McCown‘s hands, as a player who wants to be back with the team, since the Jets may opt to keep him as a bridge option. “Yeah, it’s hard to say, ‘Hey I want to go somewhere else,’ after you had the best year of your career,” McCown said, via Calvin Watkins of Newsday. “I like being there, and I love the organization and the guys and the locker room. I think it was a good foundation laid, something special, something that can be built.” The Jets could hold more than $90MM in cap room after pre-free agency cuts, making McCown — who played for $6.5MM in 2017 — more affordable.
• On the subject of players who want to stay in New York, count Devon Kennard as a fan of new Giants DC James Bettcher. Mostly a base-set linebacker in 2017, Kennard is a UFA. He started 35 games in four seasons with the Giants and calls Bettcher’s possible 3-4 conversion “advantageous” to his skill set. “It’s multiple and he likes versatile linebackers. That sounds right up my alley,” Kennard said, via Newsday’s Tom Rock. “… I expect to hear from (the Giants) in the next few weeks now that the coaching staff is established. Maybe then, but you never know. I don’t know what they’re thinking because it’s a new GM and head coach.” Kennard recorded four sacks last season despite playing as a non-rush ‘backer — the second four-plus-sack slate of his career.
• Talk of a Sheldon Richardson/Jets reunion surfaced recently, but with Cimini envisions it taking eight figures per year to sign him. He doesn’t see the Jets going for that (Twitter link).