Jets’ WR Turnover Leaves Them Less Moore At More Cost
Let me try to get this straight: The Jets on Wednesday traded Elijah Moore, their 2021 second round pick (No. 34 overall) who has two more years remaining on his cheap rookie contract, to Cleveland so they could move up 32 slots in next month’s NFL Draft. Then New York dipped into the free agent market and signed former Kansas Coty wide receiver Mecole Hardman to a reported 1-year, $6.5 million contract to fill Moore’s position.
Just a few thoughts, starting with: What is going on with this organization? For a team that is going to need every cent to find salary cap space whenever a deal for veteran Quarterback X (hopefully Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers) is consummated, they just added about $7.7 million in 2023 charges in one day. That not only includes the excess of Hardman’s cap hit over what Moore’s would have been, but also the $1.9 million dead money charge for Moore’s prorated bonus money that becomes realized upon the execution of the trade plus the salary difference between the two draft picks.
You can’t look at these moves as part of the Rodgers acquisition strategy. Holding an extra second-round pick does not change the fact that the trade cost the Jets two players (Moore and the third-rounder) for one. Jets General Manager Joe Douglas recouped nothing even if it’s his intention to use one (or both) of his 2023 second-rounders as consideration for Rodgers.
I get that Moore caused a kerfuffle last season when he expressed frustration over his role and asked to be traded. He’s young, and it’s hard not to sympathize with him given the dysfunctional situation with Gang Green’s offense between former Coordinator Mike LaFleur and the carousel of putrid quarterbacks tasked with getting Moore the ball.
According to ESPN, a few weeks before his outburst, Moore ranked 15th in the league in separation on untargeted routes. At 5-foot 10 and 178 pounds, he is ideally suited to be a slot receiver, yet he played more than half his snaps last season on the outside, according to ProFootballFocus.com, thanks to LaFleur’s fondness for “12 personnel” packages that feature two tight ends.
As such, Moore had a down statistical year after a very promising rookie campaign where he scored six touchdowns (including one on a Jet sweep). He went from 43 catches on 77 targets in 2021 to 32 receptions on 65 targets, many of which were prayers on deep sideline go routes.
In theory, Hardman should give New York better versatility (he can also return kicks, something the Jets need after cutting Braxton Berrios) and production. He’s one of the league’s best in yards gained after the catch per reception (sixth last season, second in 2021), per PFF, which is a staple for the type of offense Head Coach Robert Saleh wants new coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to run.
However, there are disclaimers: A) Hardman was catching balls thrown by Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. What would have happened if he and Moore switched teams? Would we be regaling Moore the way everyone now loves former Giant Kadarius Toney while Hardman toiled in relative obscurity as a Jet?; B} Hardman has had issues with drops—PFF charged him with 14 in 57 career games. Moore played clean last season after two drops in his rookie season, and; C) Hardman is recovering from surgery to repair his core last month. The injury limited him to eight regular season games plus 16 snaps in the AFC Championship Game. The hope is that he’ll be cleared for training camp.
Hardman will now join a wide receiver room that includes 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson and free agent acquisition Allen Lazard, a friend of Rodgers and Hackett. It’s hard to envision that Corey Davis, who was signed to a three-year, $37.5 million contract in the 2021 free agent period, sticking around with an $11.1 million cap number that can be excised with minimal dead money consequences. Oh, and 2020 Draft bust Denzel Mims still calls New York (or New Jersey) home. He too asked for a trade last season, but the market for a player coming off an 11-catch season is nil.
Like Moore, Mims was a second-round pick, continuing a 30-plus year tradition of Jets wide receivers taken in that round who have flamed out spectacularly in short order. Douglas, for all his apprenticeship work in strong organizations like the Eagles and Ravens, has been unable to lift the curse. Furthermore, his first two Draft classes from 2020 and 2021 have yielded two players (guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and slot cornerback Michael Carter II) who I would characterize as locks to be starters for New York this September.
That’s not good, and it incentivizes Douglas to make rash decisions to save his job this offseason with less regard for a future that might not include him if he fails to bring real progress to the franchise. Hopefully, Wednesday’s moves won’t be looked at in hindsight as those kinds of those decisions.