Jets Can’t Afford Slips From D-Line Makeover
If there’s an area where this Jets regime deserves a benefit of the doubt, it’s the defense.
Between General Manager Joe Douglas’ finds and Head Coach Robert Saleh’s development, Gang Green has built a high-level unit that has been majorly hamstrung by a historically inept offense. Less-heralded pickups like Quincy Williams, Bryce Huff, Tony Adams, D.J. Reed, and Michael Carter II (a fifth-round pick) have been outstanding supplements to premium Draft picks Quinnen Williams and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner plus high-priced free agent C.J. Mosley.
The pride of the Jets’ defense has always been its line—not just the 2022 NFL All-Pro Quinnen Williams, but its depth, which allowed Saleh to maintain a somewhat unique rotation where not even Williams played 70% of the defensive snaps over his 17 games.
Saleh’s belief, which can be debated, in having fresh linemen on the field certainly has produced results. It allowed Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to dial up the second-fewest blitzes in the league last season, per pro-football-reference.com, while delivering the fourth-highest pressure percentage. Six different Jets ranked among the NFL’s top 60 in individual pressure percentage among the 318 defensive linemen with at least 50 pass rush snaps, per ProFoootballFocus.com.
Having that ability to “get there” when rushing four created a tremendous benefit that flowed to the rest of the Jets defense. New York placed third in rbsdm.com’s expected points added per play allowed metric last season and only Cleveland yielded a lower success rate on opponent dropbacks.
However, the Jets have made some curious roster decisions this offseason that could endanger their front four advantages. It was one thing to allow the underachieving Carl Lawson to bolt after going sackless in 2023, but replacing Huff, Quinton Jefferson, and John Franklin-Myers with, respectively, Haason Reddick, Javon Kinlaw, and ? seems on its face like a material downgrade.
The Jets were so concerned with their salary cap sheet that they gifted Franklin-Myers, a versatile lineman who has been a PFF darling through the years, to Denver in a trade last week for a mere 2026 sixth-round pick. The move saved New York about $7.3 million in cap space, but it also added a little over $9 million to their third highest in the league dead money list.
Franklin-Myers then renegotiated his contract with Denver to a more palatable two-year, $15 million deal, with just $5 million counting towards the 2024 cap, numbers the Jets never offered “anything close to”, according to his Twitter post.
The Jets apparently weren’t all that concerned with cap space when swapping Jefferson, who signed a 1-year, $4 million free agent contract with Cleveland, for Kinlaw, who will be paid $7.25 million this season after worse 2023 production and efficiency as an interior pass rusher. If you thought Jefferson was lousy against the run, wait til you get a load of Kinlaw.
As for Huff/Reddick, I happened to think the Jets made a mistake here, in both the short and long term, but I can understand their desire to bring in a more well-rounded player on the edge for this all-in season. Reddick, though, will turn 30 in September and might be on the decline after a somewhat less-effective 2023 campaign. Huff, meanwhile, is 3.5 years younger and was a pressure machine last season, albeit in a more limited role.
The financial stakes are even more perplexing, as Reddick’s expiring contract will count $15 million on New York’s 2024 cap. How much will he want to re-sign? Possibly more than Philadelphia’s 3-year, $51.1 million deal given to Huff. That might have played a factor in the Eagles’ decision to trade Reddick to New York in exchange for a contingent 2026 third-round pick.
Most believe that Reddick won’t meet the 67.5% snap count threshold whereby the third rounder would convert to a 2 under Saleh. However, that’s still a hefty fare for what could be a rental, especially when you’re counting pennies for salary cap purposes.
For this season, the Jets are betting that, A) Reddick and Jermaine Johnson stay healthy all year on the edges, and B) Will McDonald Jr. and Michael Clemons make development leaps to fill in the voids from the departures. Jets X Factor mused about undrafted free agent Leonard Taylor III’s potential to fill the Franklin-Myers role as a linemen who can swing inside and outside, but all the scouting reports suggest he is too raw to be counted on to make a major impact this season. Risk-taking doesn’t often pay out for this franchise, which is why it hasn’t qualified for the playoffs in 13 years.
Then again, the recent defense iterations have bucked the trend. Huff was an undrafted FA, Franklin-Myers was a waiver pickup, and Jefferson was a bargain free agent acquisition. The Jets’ attacking system made them all look better than merely functional. For this team to truly contend (assuming the offense isn’t ravaged by injuries like last season), they can’t afford any degradation from the replacements in the one group that has always been their most dependable.