New York Jets Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Potential NFL Trade Deadline Change

March 13th, 2024 at 5:49pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like some NFL teams have made progress in their quest to push back the trade deadline. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, there were two recent bylaw proposals to move the trade deadline back from its current date of the Tuesday after Week 8.

The Steelers proposed a bylaw that would see the deadline pushed back a week, which would make it the Tuesday after Week 9. The Browns, Lions, Jets, Eagles, and Commanders were looking to push it back even further, proposing the deadline fall on the Tuesday after Week 10.

The NFL moved the deadline to Week 8 back in 2012, but they didn’t make an adjustment when they added a week to their schedule in 2021. That’s led some GMs to propose pushing the deadline back and lining it up with other major sports’ trade deadlines.

While the hypothetical recently gained some traction, there were reportedly some GM and owners who questioned if the change even needed to be made. While Browns GM Andrew Berry previously expressed his belief that pushing the deadline would help improve the “competitive integrity” of the NFL, there was some fear that a deadline move could only incentivize tanking. Berry seemed to disagree with that notion, though, saying last month that a deadline change would only keep teams more competitive.

“We think as a league it makes sense to give teams the most flexibility as long as possible to have the best product down the stretch run of the playoffs,” Berry stated (h/t Spencer German of Browns Digest). “We wanted to make sure we maintained the competitive integrity of the season so you don’t get into player dumping late in the year.”

The next round of league meetings are set for March 24-27.

Jets To Re-Sign P Thomas Morstead

March 13th, 2024 at 2:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Turning 38 last week, Thomas Morstead still showed the Jets enough to command a multiyear contract. Following through on an effort to re-sign Morstead, the team is giving him a deal through 2025.

Morstead’s two-year contract will be worth more than $5MM, according to The33rdTeam.com’s Ari Meirov. Morstead joined the Jets last year, doing so after a season with the Dolphins. The Jets have now re-signed both Morstead and Greg Zuerlein. The veteran kicker also received a two-year deal.

The 15-year veteran averaged 48.8 yards per punt last season — the second-most of his career — and that came on a rather large number of punts, as the Jets’ offense ran into some memorable struggles. Morstead’s 99 boots led the NFL, coming after he only punted 61 times in 17 Dolphins games. This represents the former Super Bowl winner’s second Jets stint, as the team used him in seven games during the 2021 season.

Morstead replaced Braden Mann as the Jets’ punter, though the team has not run into the turnover it has at kicker. Zuerlein stopped a run of several seasons with new kickers. He and Morstead are each tied to deals that will take them into their late 30s. Morstead, who earned second-team All-Pro acclaim with the Saints back in 2012, is now under contract through his age-39 season.

Jets To Sign DT Leki Fotu

March 12th, 2024 at 5:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Leki Fotu is heading to New York. The Jets are expected to sign the former Cardinals defensive tackle, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The deal can hit $4MM via incentives and/or bonuses.

With Quinton Jefferson, Solomon Thomas, and Al Woods all hitting free agency, the Jets have been hunting for some reinforcement at defensive tackle. The team already agreed to a deal with former 49ers defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw, and now they’re adding another former NFC West option.

Fotu was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2020 and had spent his entire career in Arizona. He started only 21 of his 56 appearances with the organization but was consistently playing around 40 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. He started nine of his 11 appearances in 2023, finishing with 28 tackles and a career-high 2.5 sacks.

As ESPN’s Rich Cimini passes along, Fotu had a run-stop percentage of 6.7 percent last season, which ranked 22nd among 117 defensive tackles. That number would have ranked second on the Jets behind Quinnen Williams, the team’s lone holdover at the position.

Jets To Sign QB Tyrod Taylor

March 11th, 2024 at 10:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

It is quite possible Tyrod Taylor will not have to change residences; he will merely switch locker rooms at MetLife Stadium. The Jets are adding the recent Giants backup, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.

Maligned for their quarterback plan behind Aaron Rodgers last year, the Jets will bring in a veteran QB2 in Taylor. The journeyman arm will slide in behind Rodgers, with the Jets on track to part ways with Zach Wilson soon. This will be Taylor’s seventh NFL team.

Not seeing much action in his first season with the Giants, Taylor became needed early in 2023. Daniel Jones battled a neck injury before going down with a torn ACL. While Tommy DeVito enjoyed a memorable stretch in relief of Jones — as Taylor sat healthy behind the rookie UDFA — the older backup closed the Giants’ season back under center. The Jets will hope Taylor does not have similar involvement in their 2024 season — as that could well mean a regime change — but they have one of the game’s most experienced QB2s ready to go in the event Rodgers suffers another injury.

Taylor, 34, is coming off a season in which a rib injury required hospitalization. This reminded of the lung puncture that ended his brief run as Chargers starter in 2020. The 2023 injury led to DeVito’s debut. Taylor later expressed disappointment he did not get the call upon returning from IR. But Brian Daboll moved him back into action on Christmas; the veteran ignited the Giants’ offense and started the final two games. For his career, Taylor now has 58 starts; he is 28-28-1 in those games.

The Ravens, Bills, Browns, Chargers, Texans, Giants and now Jets have employed the former sixth-round pick, who impressed a points during his previous AFC East cameo — a three-year starter stay in Buffalo. At a different point in his career, Taylor will come off the market and give the Jets better insurance — after Woody Johnson went so far as to say the 2023 team lacked a backup quarterback. Wilson remains on the Jets’ roster, but be it via trade or release, the former No. 2 overall pick will be gone soon.

Jets To Sign DT Javon Kinlaw

March 11th, 2024 at 10:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite the 49ers planning to cut Arik Armstead, they are not re-signing Javon Kinlaw. Instead, the defensive coordinator in place when the team drafted Kinlaw will take a flier.

Kinlaw will sign a one-year contract with the Jets, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This will reunite Kinlaw with Robert Saleh, who coached the former first-round pick in 2020. Saleh, who had also brought in Solomon Thomas from his 49ers days, will see if he can generate quality work from Kinlaw.

Injuries played the lead role in Kinlaw disappointing as a 49ers draftee. The South Carolina alum, brought in with the draft choice the Colts sent over for DeForest Buckner in 2020, struggled to stay healthy. Kinlaw missed 24 games between the 2021 and ’22 seasons, with knee trouble primarily plaguing the former No. 14 overall pick. But he did stay healthy last season, suiting up for all 20 49ers games.

Kinlaw appeared in 14 games (12 starts) in his rookie season, but he played in just four contests in 2021 before undergoing season-ending knee surgery (which was later reported to be an ACL reconstruction). While Kinlaw played well enough to land on the All-Rookie team in 2020, his knee trouble dates back to his college days. That will lead to this one-year agreement. Last season, however, Kinlaw totaled a career-high 3.5 sacks, adding two tackles for loss in the playoffs.

The Jets have Quinnen Williams anchoring their D-tackle contingent, but Thomas, Quinton Jefferson and Al Woods are free agents. San Francisco only used Kinlaw as a six-game starter last season. The Jets’ situation points to more DT pieces, probably at least one more starter-caliber option, being added this offseason.

Jets To Sign G John Simpson

March 11th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Ely Allen

After dipping their toe into the free agency waters with a few defensive additions, the Jets finally made a splash on offense by announcing that they will sign former Ravens offensive guard John Simpson, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The Clemson product will sign a two-year deal worth up to $18MM.

As a fourth-round pick by the Raiders, Simpson only made appearances on special teams or as an injury replacement, getting passed up by Denzelle Good for the opportunity to start in place of an injured Richie Incognito. The following year, Simpson was given an opportunity to start for Las Vegas and started every game of the season that year. He lost his starting job to Alex Bars in 2022 and was waived from the Raiders.

After clearing waivers, Simpson signed to the Ravens’ practice squad, signing a reserve/futures contract at the end of the year. That offseason in Baltimore, Simpson beat out rookie sixth-round pick Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, Ben Cleveland, and, supposedly, fullback Patrick Ricard for the starting left guard job. Simpson started every game while leading the team in snaps played on offense.

The Ravens will need to address the loss of a starter on the offensive line in the offseason, perhaps two as the team’s other starting guard, Kevin Zeitler, is also bound for free agency. Cleveland, a massive former third-round pick, could factor in, and Aumavae-Laulu nearly won the job over Simpson as a rookie last offseason. Additionally, the team essentially red-shirted rookie guard Andrew Vorhees, who was projected to be a potential first-round pick before tearing his ACL at the NFL scouting combine. If the team isn’t sure about these options, they can certainly still address it in the draft or later in free agency, as general manager Eric DeCosta tends to avoid transactions that might cost the team compensatory draft picks.

Simpson heads to New York as a likely starter. While he’s never really graded out well, according to Pro Football Focus, with key interior offensive line contributors like Laken Tomlinson, Connor McGovern, and Xavier Newman-Johnson all bound for free agency, Simpson slides right into a starting spot, barring more incoming competition. The Jets have a bit more work to do along the offense to improve things for a healthy Aaron Rodgers, but bringing in Simpson to protect him is a decent start. His starting experience for a contender like the Ravens should bode well for New York.

Jets To Re-Sign K Greg Zuerlein

March 11th, 2024 at 9:46am CST by Sam Robinson

The Jets had wanted to bring back Greg Zuerlein; they now have an agreement in place to greenlight a third season with the strong-legged kicker.

Zuerlein is re-signing with the Jets, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. This time, the former Rams All-Pro will stay in New York on a two-year deal. The 13th-year kicker’s latest contract is worth $8.4MM, Pelissero adds.

This is upper-middle-class kicker territory, as several specialists are now tied to deals north of $5MM per year. Zuerlein turned 36 late last season, however, and has gone year to year since the Cowboys cut him in 2022. This brings some security for the Division II alum, who is now one of the NFL’s longest-tenured kickers.

After being a Cowboys cut in 2022, Zuerlein has settled in with the Jets. The former Rams specialist turned in his best season since an All-Pro 2017 campaign, making 35 of 38 field goal tries. That marked Zuerlein’s best season since that 2017 All-Pro campaign. While Jets and Cowboys work has not brought the high-stakes environments Zuerlein encountered in 2018 with the Rams, when he booked the team’s Super Bowl berth after a game-winning 57-yard field goal in New Orleans, he has remained a dependable specialist.

Zuerlein has brought the Jets some kicker stability as well. After passing on re-signing Jason Myers following his 2018 Pro Bowl season, the Jets had cycled through kickers. Even Myers was only in the Big Apple for one season. The Jets used multiple kickers during the 2019, ’20 and ’21 seasons. Zuerlein has kicked in all but one game since signing with New York in 2022. As the team attempts to regroup around Aaron Rodgers, it will keep its kicker. Another Thomas Morstead agreement may soon follow.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/10/24

March 10th, 2024 at 10:31pm CST by Ely Allen

With so many headline-grabbing transactions in the NFL today, here are a couple minor moves that may have slipped through the cracks:

New York Jets

Re-signed: TE Kenny Yeboah

San Francisco 49ers

Re-signed: G/C Ben Bartch

The 49ers signed Bartch off of the Jaguars’ practice squad in late November and saw him immediately contribute as a backup on offense and as a special teamer. In San Francisco, Bartch appeared in regular season games at all three interior line positions. He’ll bring that same versatility back to the Bay in 2024.

Jets To Sign CB Isaiah Oliver

March 10th, 2024 at 12:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Jets have agreed to terms with cornerback Isaiah Oliver on a one-year deal, per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. Oliver, who spent the 2023 campaign with the 49ers after a five-year run with the Falcons, was released by San Francisco last month.

This is the second move to fortify the defensive backfield that New York has made today, as reports on the club’s one-year agreement with safety Chuck Clark surfaced a little over an hour before the Oliver news. As The Athletic’s Matt Barrow observes, New York is adding the latter with the intention of also using him at safety. Oliver spent time practicing at that spot toward the end of his 49ers tenure.

The 27-year-old was brought to San Francisco to man the slot corner role, but things did not go according to plan in that regard. Oliver allowed a completion percentage of 84% and a passer rating of 101 as the nearest defender in 2023. He also surrendered three touchdowns in coverage, and those factors no doubt informed San Francisco’s decision to move on. Oliver will be reunited with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich with this move, after the pair worked together in Atlanta.

The Jets have Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed in place as cornerback starters; rather than joining that tandem in the slot, Oliver will aim to carve out a role on the backend. Clark’s new deal will provide the Jets with a first-team option at one safety spot, and Oliver could compete for the other one. Jordan Whitehead – who started all 17 games in each of the past two seasons after signing with New York in 2022 – is a pending free agent.

New York entered Sunday with nearly $21MM in cap space, flexibility which will be useful this week once the legal tampering begins and free agency opens two days later. It will be interesting to see if Whitehead is retained given the Oliver acquisition, but the latter could serve as experienced depth if another starter is also brought in. In any case, Oliver will aim to rebuild his value in 2024 after a disappointing one-and-done tenure in the Bay Area.

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

Jets Re-Sign S Chuck Clark

March 10th, 2024 at 11:17am CST by Rory Parks

The Jets will bring back safety Chuck Clark on a one-year contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. New York acquired Clark from the Ravens last March, sending a seventh-rounder back to Baltimore in the trade.

Unfortunately, Clark suffered a torn ACL during OTAs in June, thereby ending his first Jets season before it started. Obviously, Gang Green is comfortable with Clark’s recovery, and as fellow safeties Jordan Whitehead and Ashtyn Davis are also out of contract, retaining Clark on what is surely a modest deal makes plenty of sense.

As we heard earlier this week, Whitehead appears unlikely to return to the team, leaving Clark as the likely starter at strong safety and Tony Adams as his running mate at free safety. Although Clark is not a world-beater, he was a regular starter for the Ravens from 2019-22 and only became expendable once Baltimore authorized a high-end free agent contract for Marcus Williams in 2022 and selected Kyle Hamilton in the first round of that year’s draft. Even after those acquisitions, the Ravens retained Clark for the 2022 campaign, underscoring his value to the club.

Over his final two years with the Ravens, Clark earned high marks from Pro Football Focus for his work in run defense. While his coverage grades were not as strong, they were at least passable, and with the Jets likely to deploy him close to line of scrimmage on most snaps, his limitations in the passing game will be mitigated to some degree.

Until his ACL tear, Clark had proven himself to be a highly durable player, having missed one game due to injury to that point in his career. The Jets will hope the 2017 sixth-rounder, who turns 29 next month, can turn in a healthy campaign while offering stability on the back end of their defense.

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