Tag: Nate Hairston

Report: Colts give back conditional draft pick from trade with Jets

Colts now have eight picks instead of nine.

Before the 2019 season began, the Indianapolis Colts traded cornerback Nate Hairston to the New York Jets in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. It seems the Colts will be giving that pick back to the Jets.

The Colts reportedly returned the conditional sixth-round pick to the Jets after those conditions weren’t met during the 2019 season, per Brian Costello of the New York Post.

Throughout the offseason, the Colts were reported and thought to have nine total draft picks and two in the second round. However, that second pick in the sixth round now belongs back to the Jets after the conditions of the trade weren’t met.

It isn’t clear what those conditions were in the trade. Hairston played 11 games and only played 35.7% of New York’s defensive snaps. He recorded 24 tackles, two for a loss, three passes defended and one interception.

We know how much Chris Ballard likes his draft picks so this will be a big deal for him even if it was a sixth-round pick.

So now the Colts are scheduled to have eight picks in the 2020 NFL draft—one in each round with an extra second-round pick from Washington.

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Report: Jets get conditional pick back from Nate Hairston trade with Colts

Joe Douglas is going to need all the picks he can get in April. Now he has eight.

Joe Douglas is going to want all of the draft picks he can get as he looks to reshape the Jets this offseason. Well, it turns out he has one more selection than initially thought.

That’s because the Colts returned the conditional sixth-round pick they acquired from New York for CB Nate Hairston last August, according to the New York Post’s Brian Costello. The conditions attached to the pick were not met, so the Jets have eight picks instead of seven.

Douglas now has one choice in the first, second, fourth and fifth rounds of April’s draft, as well as two slots each in the third and sixth rounds. The Jets are currently without a seventh-round pick.

It’s not clear what the conditions surrounding the Colts pick were, but Hairston didn’t appear in five games and only played 35.71 percent of New York’s defensive snaps despite a lackluster cornerback room that was plagued by injuries and inexperience throughout the season. In his 11 games (six starts), Hairston record 24 tackles, two for a loss, three passes defended and one interception.

Now Hairston could be a potential cap casualty. The Jets would save $2.1 million if they were to move on from him. On the other hand, the team still has a lot of uncertainty at cornerback; hanging on to Hairston as a depth piece may not be a terrible idea.

Either way, though, the Jets didn’t suffer any losses in the trade for Hairston. He wasn’t exactly a reliable backup in 2019, but he also didn’t cost them a draft pick in the end.

That should be useful to Douglas as the draft draws near.

Cap Cut Candidate: Should Jets move on from CB Nate Hairston?

The Jets should move on from cornerback Nate Hairston after a miserable first season with New York.

Nate Hairston was thrown into the Jets’ cornerback mess after a preseason trade with the Colts last year. However, Hairston struggled mightily in Gregg Williams’ defense, which led him toward the bench during the back half of the season despite New York sustaining multiple injuries at the position.

Hairston has one more year left on his rookie deal that he signed with Indianapolis. He got a salary bump of $1.4 million because he played a certain number of snaps last season. If the Jets keep him, he will count for $2.1 million against the cap. If they move on, they’ll save all of that money.

Joe Douglas needs as much money as possible to revamp this roster and Hairston didn’t exactly prove that he’s worth keeping. He played poorly on the outside and was on the sidelines for four of the last seven games of the season. The Jets need to clean out their cornerback room after last year’s performance and bring in players who can play the position well. It’ll be up to Douglas if Hairston should be part of that group next season.

Pros of keeping him

If the Jets want to have some depth at cornerback, then keeping Hairston wouldn’t be such a bad idea. In 11 games, Hairston recorded 21 tackles, three pass defenses and an interception. He flashed some raw talent at times and was strong at finding the football.

Since Hairston was acquired in the preseason, he didn’t get much time to learn Williams’ system. Williams proved last season that if you give him time to work with a cornerback, he can make them better. That could be the case with Hairston with a full offseason. Given that and his cheap contract, Hairston has a chance to stick as a depth piece in case of any injuries.

Pros of cutting him

The Jets can’t wait much longer for Hairston to figure it out. He’s a fourth-year player out of Temple who has already been traded once. The Jets can add more depth pieces via the draft or free agency who are more talented than Hairston at this stage of his career.

Hairston does come on the cheap, but the fact that many other cornerbacks on the roster last season jumped him on the depth chart shows some red flags. The Jets can use his money to upgrade the cornerback position or another position on the roster.

The verdict

Given how much playing time Hairston lost at the end of the season, all signs point toward his release. The Jets need to clean house with their cornerbacks and Hairston should be included. Williams is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, but his powers don’t work on everybody and it certainly didn’t work with Hairston.

If Douglas chooses to keep Hairston, he’ll be buried at the bottom of the depth chart fighting for a backup spot. But Douglas would be wise to move on from him and see what else he can find.

Cap Cut Candidate: Should Jets move on from CB Trumaine Johnson?

Should the Jets keep Trumaine Johnson for another season? Jets Wire says no way.

Before free agency kicks off in March, Jets general manager Joe Douglas is going to have some decisions to make on players already at One Jets Drive.

Along with New York’s 32 impending free agents, there are a handful of players who could be shown the door in an effort to free up salary cap space. The Jets have $53 million to spend right now, according to Spotrac. That number could grow exponentially if Douglas parts ways with players eating up a large chunk of Gang Green’s payroll.

Among those who are a candidate to become a cap casualty is cornerback Trumaine Johnson. After signing a massive five-year, $72.5 million with the Jets in 2018, Johnson has been nothing short of a disappointment in his time with the team. Should he be granted another season to figure things out? Let’s evaluate the situation.

Pros of keeping him

The Jets are in bad shape at cornerback. Brian Poole is set to hit free agency and there is no guarantee he returns to the Big Apple next season. Darryl Roberts was awful in 2019 and is also a candidate to get cut. If Johnson is let go, that leaves New York with Bless Austin, Kyron Brown and Nate Hairston. Maurice Canady and Arthur Maulet are set to hit the open market.

Yes, Johnson has underperformed since joining the Jets. However, there is a reason why he was once the best cornerbacks in football. The 30-year-old has lost a step the last couple of years, but who is to say he can’t bounce back and put together a productive 2020 season? He did look good in training camp last summer before injuring his hamstring, after all.

Cornerback is New York’s weakest position group at this juncture. Why not give Johnson one last shot to get it right?

Cons of keeping him

There is really no point in keeping Johnson at his current salary. New York owes him $11 million next season. Johnson is not worth that number considering how he has performed the last two seasons.

If the Jets release Johnson before June 1, they would absorb $12 million in dead cap, but free up $3 million in cap space. That would allow Douglas to go out and sign a corner to replace him in free agency.

Not only does cutting Johnson make sense from a financial standpoint, but from a schematic point of view as well. Johnson found himself in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ doghouse before landing on injured reserve. With the Jets looking to get younger, why would they keep an underperforming and overpaid veteran around?

The verdict

The argument that New York’s cornerback room would become even more of a mess without Johnson could give reason to believe he is worth keeping around for another year, but do not be fooled by this line of thinking.

Keeping Johnson does not solve anything. Just because he has a history of elite production does not mean he is magically going to return to that level of play. The Jets should not keep Johnson. Period.

The bottom line is, New York is better off without its 30-year-old, $72.5 million dollar man on the roster. It’s time to move on from arguably the worst free agent signing in franchise history.

Robby Anderson, Sam Darnold among Jets’ Studs & Duds in win over Dolphins

The Jets won their fifth game of the season in a battle of field goals to earn their first AFC East win of the season.

The Jets barely squeaked out a victory over the Dolphins Sunday, winning 22-21.

The Dolphins’ lackluster red zone offense kept the Jets in the game, despite New York giving Miami every opportunity to win. Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders went 7-8 on field goals, but it was Sam Ficken who won the game for the Jets with a 44-yard field goal as time expired.

The Jets’ fifth win of the season was also Adam Gase’s first against his former team.

Mistakes were made on the final drive, but a reviewed defensive pass interference call gave the Jets a gift from above. Here are the best and worst players from the Jets’ last-second win.

Stud: RB Bilal Powell

(Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

Bilal Powell was a workhorse out of the backfield Sunday.

Powell had 19 carries for 74 yards. That’s more in a single game than Le’Veon Bell had in any of his starts (70). A staggering statistic, this is the first time a Jets running back has run for over 70 yards this season.

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Jets secondary vulnerable against Dolphins with key pieces missing

The Jets secondary will be vulnerable to the Dolphins this Sunday as they’re missing a ton of key pieces.

The Jets secondary is as depleted as it has ever been this season.

New York will likely be without its star safety Jamal Adams due to an ankle injury. Meanwhile, both Brian Poole (concussion) and Arthur Maulet (calf) are trending towards being out as well. That means the Jets will have only two members of their secondary playing in Sunday’s game that started in Week 1 in Marcus Maye and Darryl Roberts.

In other words, the unit is looking extremely vulnerable heading into Week 14.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has already coached up this defense to be respectable, but this might be his biggest challenge yet.

“He’ll have to get creative this week, which I’m sure he doesn’t mind,”Adam Gase said of Williams.

We could be seeing multiple players playing in different positions on Sunday. With Adams out, Roberts could see some time at safety as he played at that position for five games last season. As for the slot, Nate Hairston will have to play on the inside. To replace Maulet, the Jets will have to slide Maurice Canady to the outside. It’s not an ideal situation, but there’s not much else they can do to fix this.

“You have to have the contingency plans of what if somebody goes out, how are we shuffling things around,” Gase said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to be responsible for playing a few different positions.”

The last time the Dolphins faced the Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns in a win. That was when New York’s secondary was considered healthy. Since that game, Fitzpatrick has thrown for over 300 yards twice and wide receiver DeVante Parker has had over 100 receiving yards in two of his last three games. If Fitzpatrick and the rest of the Dolphins continue to play the way they have lately, the Jets’ defense will be in deep trouble.

“They’re throwing the ball, which I’m sure [Fitzpatrick] loves,” Gase said. “He had a good game last week. The last time we played him, we struggled to get him to turn the ball over and create enough pressure to make him uncomfortable. That’s the number one thing when you’re playing Fitzy is you’ve got to try to get to him, you’ve got to try to get him to make some mistakes and put pressure on him and make some of those throws tough.”

Adam Gase praises rookie CB Bless Austin’s strong start

Jets head coach Adam Gase has high praise for rookie cornerback Bless Austin, who missed the past 14 months recovering from an ACL injury.

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After being away from football for over a year, Jets rookie cornerback Bless Austin has jumped onto the scene with New York desperately thin at corner.

After an increasingly long layoff — 14 months without playing football — Austin’s dominant performances through his first two NFL games have caught the eye of many. That includes his head coach.

“He was driving us nuts on the scout team,” Adam Gase said following Thursday’s practice. “When you’re making receivers angry… you know he’s got something to him.”

Austin dons No. 31, the same number Antonio Cromartie did when he was a shutdown cornerback for the Jets. If Austin carves himself out a nice career like Cromartie, it would be a nice parting gift from Mike Maccagnan in his last draft.

Austin, who spent the first eight games on the Non-Football Injury list as he recovered from his second ACL surgery, has held up well in two starts. He has allowed only six catches for 59 yards as the closest defender, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

In his second NFL game, Sunday against the Redskins, Pro Football Focus graded him (77.2), the Jets’ best defensive player.

In a small sample size, Austin has proved himself a worthy candidate to watch down the stretch. If he can stay healthy, the Jets might have found themselves a second-round talent in the sixth-round.

The ACL injuries have taken a toll on Austin, but he’s emerging as a reliable cornerback when desperate times have called for desperate measures. On a whim, New York benched struggling CB Nate Hairston in favor of Austin in the midst of the Giants game. The Jets may never look back.

Jets should take a look at former Buccaneers CB Vernon Hargreaves

The Jets need cornerback help, and 2016 first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves could be the answer.

With the Jets woefully thin at cornerback, New York should take a look at the recently-released Vernon Hargreaves III to fill a position riddled by injury and poor play.

Hargreaves could be a low-risk, high-reward move by the Jets considering his youth and potential. The former 11th overall pick in the 2016 draft only recently turned 24 and was one of the top prospects coming out of Florida just three years ago. He opened his career with a stellar rookie season with the Buccaneers (76 tackles, nine passes defended and one interception), but injuries plagued Hargreaves the past two seasons and he was ultimately cut after a brutal beginning to 2019.

Bruce Arians and the Buccaneers were dismayed by Hargreaves’ lack of enthusiasm and effort this season, culminating in Arians benching Hargreaves after he didn’t hustle on a 55-yard pass play against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10.

“He didn’t look like he was hustling to go in for a tackle,” Arians said of the play. “He was chasing somebody across the field, and he wasn’t running fast enough.”

Hargreaves, to his credit, didn’t back down from the criticism. He took full responsibility after the game for any perceived concerns about his effort.

“If that’s what coach saw that’s what he saw,” he said. “There’s no arguing with that – I need to hustle. Point blank. End of discussion.”

Hargreaves’ production has dropped off considerably since his rookie season and he has major injury issues – he missed all but one game in 2018 with a shoulder injury and seven games in 2017 with a hamstring injury. His 2019 hasn’t been much better, as he’s allowed a 111.9 passer rating when targeted (51st among cornerbacks), 12.3 yards per reception (37th), 5.7 receptions per game (77th), a catch rate of 63.8 percent (49th) and burned on 3.8 percent of his targets (71st), per PlayerProfiler.com. 

Those numbers are all terrible. Sadly, they’re also better than every other Jets cornerback other than Brian Poole, who plays 61 percent of his snaps in the slot.

The Jets need a player like Hargreaves to play on the outside, especially if Darryl Roberts can’t play. With Roberts hobbled by a calf injury and Trumaine Johnson on injured reserve, the only healthy cornerbacks the Jets have on the roster are Poole, Nate Hairston (who was benched in the second quarter of Sunday’s game), sixth-round rookie Bless Austin, and undrafted rookies Arthur Maulet and Kyron Brown. Austin played well for the Jets in his first game of the year, but he can’t be expected to fix a Jets secondary that’s been leaky all season.

Hargreaves won’t be a game-changer for the Jets, but he’ll be an infusion of young talent in a depleted secondary. He’ll also be looking to prove himself in search of another contract. The Buccaneers picked up Hargreaves’ $9.954 million fifth-year option this offseason, but it’s only guaranteed for injury. If the Jets claim him, they could easily try him out for a few games and see how he fares in the offseason before committing to that price tag for the 2020 season. 

Hargreaves also has a few former teammates on the Jets – Poole and safety Marcus Maye both played with Hargreaves in Gainesville in 2015. 

The Jets are grasping at straws in the secondary right now. Hargreaves isn’t the player many expected him to be after his rookie season, but he’s young and experienced and could be a short-term solution for the Jets defense heading into the back-half of its schedule.