The Jets are no strangers to paying free agent cornerbacks the big bucks.
Look no further than the $142.5 million New York has spent luring supposedly elite corners to the Big Apple in the last five years. The first $70 million of that went to Darrelle Revis in 2015. The other $72.5 million went to Trumaine Johnson three years later. New York only paid out a combined $73 million in guaranteed money ($39 million to Revis, $34 million to Johnson), but the point still stands.
Both of those contracts were handed out by Mike Maccagnan. Their failures played a major role in his firing last June. If Joe Douglas can learn anything from his predecessor, it’s that throwing money at a hole doesn’t automatically fill it.
That doesn’t mean New York’s first-year general manager will definitely stray away from using his salary cap space to entice one of the market’s top corners, though.
This offseason, the Jets need a lockdown cornerback to come in and right the ship more now than ever. Not only was Johnson awful in 2019, so were the rest of the players on the depth chart with the exception of one. It took only one season for Darryl Roberts to prove Maccagnan made yet another massive mistake giving him a three-year contract. The rest of New York’s corners were either inexperienced or inconsistent. Only Brian Poole was solid, but he’s heading for free agency and his return to One Jets Drive is up in the air.
Enter Byron Jones — the corner who could make last year’s struggles at the position a distant memory. Jones is only 27. He’s a freak athlete with range and coverage ability who is entering his prime. In theory, he’s the perfect candidate to come to the Jets and blossom into one of the best defensive backs in football.
Jones might seem like a sexy signing on the surface, but his career with the Cowboys suggests otherwise. Since converting from safety to cornerback in 2018, Jones has not intercepted a single pass. He deflected 20 passes in two years at the position, but failed to come away with any picks.
It’s not like Jones’ lack of production in the interceptions department is a product of opposing quarterbacks not throwing his way. Quarterbacks haven’t had much of an issue going at Jones. That’s going to continue until he proves he can ballhawk. At least Revis and Johnson came to New York with a reputation for picking passes off.
There’s also a serious schematic difference at play between Jones and the Jets. Jones comes from a Cover 3 system in Dallas. New York defensive coordinator Gregg Williams employs a man-heavy scheme. He turned to zone defenses at times last season, but that was to cover up weaknesses in the secondary. If he has the personnel he needs, Williams is going to run man-to-man coverage more often than not.
Jones would be a major upgrade over what the Jets currently have at corner. There’s no denying that. The question is this: Is a zone cornerback who lacks the ball skills to intercept passes worth entering a bidding war that could take his average annual salary north of $16 million per year?
There’s no telling what Douglas will do since it’s his first offseason at the helm, but his approach to his job with the Ravens, Bears and Eagles, and what he has let on in his brief time with the Jets, indicates he’s not exactly keen on resetting the market for a player who doesn’t fit his team like a glove.
The Jets need a cornerback. Fortunately for Douglas, there are plenty of good ones available this offseason. He just can’t afford to shell out a lucrative contract to the wrong one. With this in mind, Douglas should approach any potential dealings with Jones with extreme caution.
If he doesn’t, he could s the same fate as the man he replaced in a couple of years.