AFC East Notes: Jets, Darnold, Teddy, Pats

Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets that Jets rookie QB Sam Darnold once again took the majority of snaps in the team’s practice today, and he says it “feels inevitable” that the No. 3 overall selection will be the Week 1 starter. Which means, of course, that Gang Green could look to move Teddy Bridgewater, whose name we have heard in trade rumors almost as soon as the Jets acquired him this offseason. Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv, though, believes Bridgewater will remain with the Jets throughout the season, unless another club’s starter gets hurt. If New York does deal Bridgewater, though, Vacchiano offers a list of teams who could be interested, including the Broncos, Jaguars, and Saints.

Now let’s check out some rumors from other east division clubs:

  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wonders if Tom Brady‘s reworked deal with the Patriots was actually done with TE Rob Gronkowski in mind. After all, Brady’s deal only added $5MM in incentives and did not come with a big signing bonus or any additional years, so perhaps New England wanted to be able to tell Gronk — who wants a pay raise in the form of guaranteed money, not incentives — “we didn’t give Brady any extra guaranteed money, and we’re not going to do it for you, either.”
  • In the same piece, Volin says he would not be surprised if the Patriots pursue Bridgewater next offseason (when he will be a free agent), or if they look to bring back Jacoby Brissett via trade in 2019 (assuming Andrew Luck proves he can stay healthy in 2018, which would make the Colts more inclined to deal Brissett). New England doesn’t have a young quarterback on its roster aside from seventh-round rookie Danny Etling, who is viewed as a practice-squad player at best.
  • The Patriots haven’t used undrafted rookie punter Corey Bojorquez during their first two preseason games, and that could be because New England hopes to eventually sneak him through waivers and onto its practice squad, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Veteran Ryan Allen is the Patriots’ likely punter in 2018, but he ranked just 18th in net punting average a season ago. By keeping Bojorquez off game tape, New England isn’t allowing rival clubs to get a look at a potentially talented played.
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