When Josh Doctson signed with the Jets back in February, chances are he was thinking more about reviving his career than he was about a global pandemic.
A week into training camp, however, and Doctson has decided to put his fifth NFL season off. The wide receiver pulled the plug on his 2020 campaign on Thursday, joining Leo Kolomatangi and C.J. Mosley as the third Jets player to opt-out due to COVID-19 concerns. Considering all that was at stake for Doctson this August, this had to be a hard decision.
When New York signed Doctson, it inherited a player whose career was at a crossroads. The former first-round pick flopped in Washington, recording no more than 532 receiving yards in any of his three seasons there before being released. Doctson’s tenure with the Vikings was even shorter, as he was cut mid-season after playing only seven snaps for Minnesota.
Despite the rough start to Doctson’s professional career, another opportunity presented itself in the Big Apple. With their wide receiver room lacking depth, the Jets took a chance on the TCU product. This was much more than an offseason flier signing, too. Doctson was going to have a legitimate chance to turn things around and make New York’s 53-man roster out of training camp.
Instead, Doctson prioritized his health and the health of those around him by opting out — a brave decision for a 27-year-old whose career was already at stake. He could have kept chugging along in an effort to finally reach his potential, but the risks that come along with playing football during a pandemic were simply too loud for him to ignore.
Doctson opting to put his career on pause cannot be viewed in the same ilk as Mosley’s. Doctson does not have an $85 million contract to fall back on. He made good money on his rookie contract, but at this rate, that might be the last multi-million dollar deal he ever signs. There is no guarantee another team, the Jets included, give Doctson another chance in 2021. By then it will have been two seasons since he caught a pass, and that will not make him an attractive option for teams in the market for a wide receiver.
Doctson, however, made his choice. He placed his health above a potential career revival. That might seem like a crazy decision to some, but with a deadly virus still floating around, Doctson thought just the opposite.