The free agency period has officially begun as teams are now allowed to negotiate contracts with all available free agents. Before noon today teams were allowed to negotiate and re-sign their own free agents as well as sign free agents who were released from their former teams before their contract was up. Teams can negotiate with restricted and unrestricted free agents now, but can’t officially sign a new deal until March 11th.
Over the next couple of weeks we will keep a running list of all the players the Jets re-sign, newly acquire or cut/let walk and we will do our best to update the list as more information becomes available.
A few days ago the Jets re-signed cornerbacks Darrin Walls and Ellis Lankster while also signing corner Johnny Patrick off waivers after he was released by the Chargers.
Lankster was an obvious re-signing, he provides depth at the corner position and he can fill in as a nickel or dime corner, but his true value is on special teams. Lankster is an excellent gunner on special teams and is exactly the type of player teams need to keep on their roster so their special teams unit isn’t a weak point on the team.
Walls is a little bit of a surprise, after being relied on early in the season to make up for the struggles of Dee Milliner, Walls seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff. Walls suffered a shoulder injury during the season so he had to miss some time for that and even when he returned that no doubt played a role in his limited snaps late in the season, but even with Milliner struggling early the coaching staff never seemed sold on the fact that Walls could handle the role full-time. Now he gets the chance to prove he does deserve that chance or at the very least continue to provide much needed depth at the cornerback position.
Johnny Patrick was drafted by the Saints in the third-round of the 2011 draft before being cut by the Saints last offseason and signed by the Chargers before being placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury last season. Patrick was added to the Jets to provide more depth at the bottom of the roster, plus his a nickel corner and in today’s NFL you need multiple corners capable of playing the slot with these four and five receiver spread lineups we’re seeing.
Just before midnight last night the Jets reached a deal on a three-year extension with tight end Jeff Cumberland.
UPDATE: Released – Antonio Cromartie
UPDATE: Released – Santonio Holmes
Rumors
As much fun as it is getting all caught up in the various rumors floating around this time of year, it’s important to remember they are just rumors. There are so many whispers floating around right now it’s basically like the jungle on the TV show ‘Lost,’ and it’s very difficult to separate what’s real and not and try to make sense of any of it. But enjoy it for what it’s worth.
According to ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini the Jets, “are planning to let RG Willie Colon hit the open market, per source. No surprise. Recovering from biceps surgery.”
Tony Pauline echoed Cimini’s report on Colon on his podcast while also reporting that the Jets will make a run at guards Geoff Schwartz (the best available free agent guard on the market) and Zane Beadles (a solid, though not spectacular guard).
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, “Source: Jets plan on making a play for Chiefs guard Jon Asamoah.” Asamoah and Schwartz were teammates in Kansas City last season, with Schwartz as the superior run blocker and Asamoah the better pass blocker (Schwartz is a better pass blocker than Asamoah is a run blocker though). Asamoah began last season as a starting guard for the Chiefs before getting hurt and Schwartz proceeded to fill in and take Asamoah’s job full time.
According to multiple reports the Jets have inquired about the services of Titans cornerback Alterraun Verner. Verner would make an excellent addition to this secondary, but he won’t come cheap as he will likely have offers in the range of $8-10 million per year.
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