Jets grab Joe Alt in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft

Jets grab Joe Alt in Touchdown Wire’s latest mock draft

Could Joe Alt actually be available for the Jets when they come on the board at No. 10? In the latest mock draft from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, that scenario actually plays out and the Jets gladly grab the Notre Dame product with the pick.

A run of quarterbacks and wide receivers help push the offensive tackles down the board for the Jets as four quarterbacks go in the top eight along with four wide receivers among the first nine picks. The Titans selected Olu Fashanu of Penn State at No. 7.

If Alt is somehow on the board for the Jets, they should sprint the podium with the card for the selection. This mock is an example that the Jets are still in a good position to have their pick of the litter with how quarterbacks will be pushed up the board. The Jets do pass on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers – who lands with the Bengals at 18 — but getting Alt would solidify one of their tackle spots for years to come (the Jets hope at least).

Mike Evans scratched off Jets’ free agent list as receiver re-signs with Bucs

Mike Evans scratched off Jets’ free agent list as receiver re-signs with Bucs

The dream, albeit as unlikely as it was, is over. Mike Evans will not be a New York Jet. The receiver agreed to a two-year deal worth $52 million to stay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The deal includes $35 million guaranteed.

Evans has started his career with ten straight 1,000-yard seasons, an NFL record. The Jets presumably would have had interest in Evans had he reached the open market but they were not listed among the teams in a tweet by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

Regardless, there is no more talk of Evans going anywhere else. He is staying in Tampa. Back to the drawing board for the Jets with Evans and Tee Higgins off the board.

Todd Downing attends, coaches drills during Saturday’s Combine session

Todd Downing attends, coaches drills during Saturday’s Combine session

Jets passing game coordinator Todd Downing was in attendance and did a little coaching during Saturday’s on-field drills for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers at the Scouting Combine.

Downing served as the “main voice” in the quarterback room last season and will continue to have a hand in the position now that Rob Calabrese has joined the Los Angeles Rams.

Wide receiver is a big need for the Jets but there’s also a chance they draft a quarterback late. For now, the only quarterback under contract for the 2025 season is Aaron Rodgers. Zach Wilson is expected to be traded this offseason.

Saturday’s action was highlighted by the quarterbacks throwing, including Michael Penix of Washington, Bo Nix of Oregon and J.J. McCarthy of national champion Michigan.

The biggest highlight came from Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy as he broke the record for the fastest recorded 40-yard dash at the Combine at 4.21 seconds. The previous record was 4.22 by wide receiver John Ross.

Mecole Hardman strongly denies leaking Jets’ gameplans to opponents

Mecole Hardman is strongly denying leaking Jets’ gameplans to opponents

Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman took to Twitter Friday to strongly deny the accusations that he leaked offensive gameplans against the Chiefs and Eagles during his time with the Jets, saying false accusations were made against him and his character.

Cornerback Sauce Gardner and tight end Kenny Yeboah both suggested on Twitter that Hardman, during his frustration, leaked the gameplans. Connor Hughes of SNY also reported that there was “validated belief” from Jets players that Hardman did leak the gameplans.

Hardman also said he had never spoke to the Chiefs before the Jets traded him back to Kansas City in October. Hardman caught just one pass in five games with the Jets. He caught the Super-Bowl winning touchdown in overtime against the 49ers to cement the dynasty in Kansas City.

Jets won’t use franchise tag on Bryce Huff, but ‘ideally Bryce is back’

The Jets won’t be tagging Bryce Huff, still hope to bring him back.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas confirmed the team will not use the franchise tag on Bryce Huff this offseason but that the ideal situation is the Jets are able to re-sign Huff.

“Obviously Bryce, unbelievable season,” Douglas said, via the Jets’ official website. “A great teammate, great player and a player that is very deserving to find out what his value is in the open market. The plan is not to tag Bryce at that 21-plus [million dollar] number, but the plan is to continue talking with the agents. Ideally, Bryce is back. Ten sacks is a very valuable thing to our defense and our team. We’re going to have those discussions moving forward and we have a little bit of time before that tampering window starts.”

The tampering window Douglas mentioned begins March 11 at noon eastern. Free agency and the new league year officially begins March 13 at 4:00pm eastern.

Pro Football Focus projects Huff to get a three-year, $50 million contract with $35 million guaranteed. The Jets used Huff as more of a pass-rush specialist while Huff wants to get more playing time and see more snaps against the run. With less than two weeks before other teams can talk to Huff, time is of the essence. The Jets want to keep Huff but $21 million for one year is proving a little too costly.

Brock Bowers says it would be ‘pretty sweet’ to catch passes from Aaron Rodgers

Brock Bowers says it would be ‘pretty sweet’ to catch passes from Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers to Brock Bowers for a touchdown. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It would be pretty cool if you ask the Georgia tight end.

The potential top-ten pick in April’s draft said Thursday at the Scouting Combine it would be “pretty sweet” to catch passes from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes…and one Aaron Rodgers.

“It’d be pretty sweet to play with Aaron Rodgers,” Bowers said. “He’s one of the best of All-Time to do it at QB, & it’d be cool to learn under him & just play w/ him.”

Bowers totaled over 2,500 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns in three seasons with Georgia, helping the Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships along the ways.

The Jets hold the No. 10 pick in the draft and while many believe they have to take an offensive tackle, if Bowers is on the board (keyword “if”), it would be very difficult to pass up a legit offensive weapon for Rodgers to take pressure off of Garrett Wilson.

NFL sets salary cap at $255.4 million, giving Jets more cap space

The Jets have more money to work with as the salary cap for 2024 makes a big jump.

The NFL officially set the salary cap for the 2024 season at $255.4 million, an incredible $30 million increase from 2023, thanks to media revenue and the teams fully repaying advances from the COVID pandemic.

As a result, the Jets now have more room to work with. Based on numbers from Over the Cap, the Jets now have about $15 million in cap space with the additional space. OTC initially projected about $256 million for the salary cap but recent news caused projections to be lower, at around $242 million.

The Jets will also still have plenty of moves to make to create much more room for themselves. Perhaps this will give them a better chance to keep Bryce Huff. Speaking of which, with the salary cap set, the franchise tag numbers are also set. Placing the franchise tag on Huff would be worth about $21.3 million.

Daniel Jeremiah talks tackle options at No. 10 in draft for Jets

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah talks tackle options at No. 10 in draft for Jets

When it comes to the NFL Draft, there aren’t too many in the business better at covering the event than NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah. This week, DJ had his conference call with the Scouting Combine just a few days away and he dove into a plethora of topics, including the New York Jets with the No. 10 pick.

Jeremiah was asked about the offensive tackles and who realistically could be available when the Jets are on the clock with the 10th pick. There are already a few names at the top floating as potential options: Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga and Alabama’s JC Latham.

Jeremiah does not believe Alt will be available for the Jets at No. 10 as he is “the cleanest of the bunch.” He also thinks Fashanu will “probably be gone” so the decision may come down to Fuaga or Latham for the Jets.

“Fuaga is a really, really clean player for me,” Jeremiah said about the Oregon State product. “He has played on the right side. I don’t see really why you would want to move him. I think he is a plug-and-play as a right tackle. He could play guard if you needed him to, but just really consistent. Quick feet. Really explosive and dynamic when he gets into guys. He has some nasty to him. Plays with good temperament.” Fuaga is DJ’s No. 2 offensive lineman.

Latham is Jeremiah’s fourth offensive lineman. He has toruque and power but had issues with some stunts and twists, in Jeremiah’s opinion.

Sure enough, in his latest mock draft, Jeremiah has the Jets taking Fuaga at No. 10 with both Alt (No. 5 to Chargers) and Fashanu (No. 7 to Titans) both off the board.

Important 2024 NFL offseason dates for Jets fans to know

Important 2024 NFL offseason dates for Jets fans to know

The Scouting Combine is right around the corner which means free-agency buzz is going to begin in earnest very soon and the offseason will start to take off. There are plenty of offseason dates to keep track of so here are a few of them to help follow along over the next few months.

ESPN names Jets best team fit for pending free agent safety Kamren Curl

ESPN names Jets best team fit for pending free agent safety Kamren Curl

The Jets will be looking for a safety to pair with Tony Adams this offseason. Chuck Clark (coming off a torn ACL) and Jordan Whitehead are both pending free agents — Whitehead’s contract was voided this week, setting him up to become a free agent in March.

Who could fill that void in 2024 for the Jets? Matt Bowen of ESPN has an idea. He recently took his top 50 pending free agents and picked the best team fit for each one. One player was paired with the Jets, and that was safety Kamren Curl of the Washington Commanders.

Curl, who turns 25 in March, quickly became a mainstay in the Washington defense after being selected in the seventh round in the 2020 NFL draft out of Arkansas. He has played in at least 16 games in three of his four seasons and has recorded at least 80 tackles in every season, including a career-high 115 in 2023.

Here’s what Bowen wrote about Curl:

Curl is a highly instinctive safety who can roll into the front or drive top-down from split-field alignments — traits that work well in Robert Saleh’s system. While I would like to see Curl create more on-the-ball production — he hasn’t had an interception for the Commanders since grabbing three in his 2020 rookie season — he’s a solid pro who could produce in the Jets’ defined coverages.

As Bowen notes, one thing you’d like to see if Curl comes to the Jets is more interceptions. He had three in his rookie season in 2020 but none in the last three seasons. He did force and recover a fumble in 2023 and also has at least one sack in every season, so defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich could get creative with Curl.