Lurking behind the New York Jets’ 2024 season is a tremendous sense of urgency. Obviously, the primary reason is Aaron Rodgers’ age and possibly impending retirement, coupled with the hot seat of Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh. The Jets also have several key veterans on one-year deals at below-market value. That will leave them with many holes next season.
However, there’s also a deeper reason: the Jets have many players who will seek new contracts soon. Putting aside the Haason Reddick contract standoff, there are many other extensions the Jets will need to sort out sooner rather than later.
That’s the inevitability of the NFL: if you draft well, the clock immediately starts ticking. It’s why the Texans cast all their chips into the middle of the table this offseason. With a star quarterback on a rookie deal, there are at most two or three more seasons before they’ll need to pay the piper.
The San Francisco 49ers are currently in the midst of this predicament. They’ll need to give Brock Purdy an extension next offseason. It may cause them to trade their best receiver. Meanwhile, the top left tackle in the NFL, Trent Williams, holds out in search of his own new deal.
The Jets will need to make some tradeoffs. They won’t be able to pay D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II. In fact, there is a world in which the Jets let them both walk. Tyler Conklin is a good player for the Jets, but if he prices himself out of a very low range, they might take their chances elsewhere. Alijah Vera-Tucker’s 2024 season will largely determine what the team decides to do with his deal, as his fifth-year option number is very high.
And then there are the 2022 draft stars. Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, and Breece Hall will all be eligible for extensions following this season. So far, Douglas has never paid a player after the third year of his deal, but it would be foolish not to do so with Gardner and Wilson. Their markets will only explode further given another year. There could be some contract disputes with Johnson and Hall if they don’t get what they want.
Meanwhile, if Quincy Williams can replicate his All-Pro season, he’ll certainly demand a pay raise. All the Jets’ defensive tackles besides Quinnen Williams are free agents in 2025, as are all their safeties and starting receivers besides Wilson. Their starting tackles will both be free agents, even though they drafted their left tackle of the future. If Reddick does play for the Jets this season, he’ll be a free agent after the year.
That’s a lot of contract sorting to do after this season. Notwithstanding what happens with Rodgers, the only way to keep any sort of window of opportunity open will be to receive significant contributions from their younger, newer players.
We saw a glimpse of what that could look like in the Jets’ first preseason game. Jarrick Bernard-Converse did his best Sauce Gardner imitation. Braelon Allen looked like Derrick Henry, and Isaiah Davis flashed his abilities in the passing game. Olu Fashanu had a lockdown day as a pass-blocker and showed intriguing potential in the run game. Will McDonald’s patented spin move demonstrated his pass-rushing upside. Malachi Corley had a good kickoff return and made a couple of nice plays as a receiver.
There’s also Joe Tippmann, who played sparingly in the first preseason game but has the makings of the Jets’ anchor in the middle for the next decade. And though Qwan’tez Stiggers didn’t do much in the game, he continues to show out in practice.
Of course, it’s foolish to get carried away by one preseason game. But Bernard-Converse and Stiggers have displayed some of the hallmarks of the Jets’ defensive coaching, which gives significant hope that it’s not just a one-time fluke. Fashanu exhibited the same skills the Jets saw when they drafted him. Ditto for Allen, Davis, and McDonald. Even Leonard Taylor’s play explained why the Jets made him a priority undrafted free agent.
If the Jets can garner value from the 2023-24 drafts and undrafted free-agent classes, they’ll find a way to replenish some of the talent they can’t retain due to the salary cap. Is it out of the realm of possibility that one of Bernard-Converse or Stiggers replaces Reed next season? It sounds daunting, but that’s how all good teams handle the loss of their priciest players.
When Reddick is gone, the Jets need McDonald to step into his place. Getting even reasonable backup-level play from Taylor would give the Jets one less hole to fill. If Corley can develop into a starting slot receiver by Year 2 (which the Jets likely hoped when they drafted him), that would be one less hole to fill next season.
It goes further. Eric Watts and Braiden McGregor are two undrafted free agents the Jets like. If they can get backup-level play out of them, it means not having to bring in pricier veterans. Just as Jamien Sherwood has looked like a starting-caliber linebacker in training camp, Zaire Barnes could develop into the next linebacker in the Jets’ pipeline. What if Xavier Newman becomes a reasonably capable backup?
Yes, this is getting carried away. Not all these players will become contributors, let alone starters and stars. But well-constructed teams replenish their talent via young players on cheap deals. So even as the Jets play an all-in season in 2024, pay attention to the depth players in their limited roles. They may determine a large part of the future.
