While Darren Mougey’s economical approach to free agency makes sense for the New York Jets’ long-term plan, he has yet to execute it to perfection. Mougey has left numerous gaping holes across the Jets’ depth chart, including right tackle, defensive tackle, tight end, and, perhaps most commonly discussed, wide receiver.
The Jets do not appear to be aiming for a “tank” season; they would have traded away their best assets already. They clearly want to be competitive in 2025. Thus, it is imperative for Mougey to fill out the rest of these roster holes before Week 1.
The aforementioned wide receiver position has received plenty of attention for its depth behind Garrett Wilson, or lack thereof. Here is how the Jets’ wide receiver depth chart appears as of March 21:
- Garrett Wilson
- Allen Lazard
- Xavier Gipson
- Malachi Corley
- Tyler Johnson
- Irvin Charles
- Brandon Smith
- Easop Winston
- Marcus Riley
- Ontaria Wilson
The Jets obviously need more depth at wide receiver. Even if they do not make a large investment to definitively fill the starting spot across from Wilson, the Jets simply need more players with some degree of a proven NFL floor to raise the unit’s collective floor.
Enter Josh Reynolds.
The 30-year-old free agent remains on the market. For multiple reasons, Reynolds is among the best available fits for what New York needs at wide receiver.
Familiarity
Claimed off waivers by the Detroit Lions in November 2021, Reynolds remained in Detroit through 2023 and played an underrated role in the franchise’s offensive resurgence.
Reynolds started 29 of his 38 games in Detroit, catching 97 passes for 1,393 yards and 10 touchdowns. Along the way, he gained familiarity with now-Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, who was Detroit’s passing game coordinator over Reynolds’ latter two seasons with the team. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was Detroit’s defensive coordinator at the time.
On a team that projects to utilize a WR2-by-committee approach, connectivity and chemistry will be critical. The Jets’ wide receivers can outperform the sum of their parts if each member of the unit knows their role within the offense and can execute it consistently. Adding a player who is familiar with both the head coach and the offensive coordinator would help the Jets achieve that goal.
Not to mention, as the Jets install a brand-new scheme and culture under Engstrand and Glenn, it would be valuable to have a veteran player who is familiar with the coaches’ schematic verbiage and overall coaching style.
Efficiency
Garrett Wilson ranked second in the NFL with 322 targets from 2023-24, trailing only CeeDee Lamb (333). He is a proven target magnet, and with even less competition for targets on the Jets’ roster than in the previous two seasons, Wilson projects to once again devour a massive portion of the Jets’ available targets.
Therefore, the goal for the rest of the wide receiver unit is to dominate in their roles. Barring the surprising addition of a big-name veteran or selecting a wide receiver in the first round, the Jets will probably not have a true “WR2” this season. They will have a collection of wideouts who are each asked to focus on their specialties across a low volume of targets. If these players can make the most of their opportunities, the Jets can replicate the production of a star WR2 in the aggregate.
The Detroit Lions executed this model perfectly in 2023, and Reynolds was a massive part of it.
Amon-Ra St. Brown led the Lions with 164 targets that year. Tight end Sam LaPorta (120) and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (71) were the next two players in line. The Lions’ second-leading wide receiver was Reynolds, who finished with 100 fewer targets than St. Brown (64).
Reynolds did not need a high volume of targets to make his mark. He caught 40 of his 64 targets for 608 yards and five touchdowns. Among the 80 wide receivers with at least 50 targets that season, Reynolds ranked 18th in yards per target (9.5) and 11th in touchdown rate (7.8%). Jared Goff had a 113.3 passer rating when targeting Reynolds, which was 15.4 points higher than his season average (97.9).
Blocking
While the offensive line gets most of the attention, the ancillary blockers of an offense are just as pivotal in determining the outcome of a play. Among this group, the tight ends are of the utmost importance, but it is also essential to have at least one wide receiver who can be trusted to line up tight to the formation and dig out a box defender.
The 6-foot-3, 192-pound Reynolds is known as a quality blocker. In 2024, he earned a 67.5 run-blocking grade at Pro Football Focus, placing sixth-best out of 71 qualified wide receivers (min. 200 run-blocking snaps).
For a Jets team that is looking to build a physical, run-first identity around Justin Fields, adding a wide receiver known for his blocking skills would make a sneakily huge impact.
Buy low
Reynolds is coming off a down year, which should minimize the cost to acquire him.
Following his strong 2023 campaign in Detroit, Reynolds signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Broncos in 2024. However, he was waived by Denver after playing only five games. He landed with the Jaguars, where he played four more games but was seldom involved in the offense. Ultimately, Reynolds finished the season with 13 receptions for 194 yards and one touchdown in nine games.
Multiple injuries were at the root of Reynolds’ decline. Reynolds missed eight games with a fractured finger. During this absence, Reynolds was wounded in a shooting, suffering minor injuries to his left arm and the back of his head. Denver waived him before he returned, and Reynolds finished out the year playing a minimal role across four games in Jacksonville (five targets in four games).
Early in 2024, Reynolds was doing the thing he got paid to do: maximize his targets. Through five games in Denver, Reynolds caught 12 of 19 targets for 183 yards and a touchdown. His yards-per-target (9.6) and passer rating when targeted (112.4) were almost identical to his 2023 numbers in Detroit, and that was with a struggling early-season Bo Nix, who had a 71.4 passer rating through Week 5. Then, Reynolds hurt his finger, and Denver never gave him a chance to build on his success with the improved late-season version of Nix.
This is a perfect buy-low opportunity for the Jets, who have sought low-risk contracts this offseason. Because of his lackluster production in 2024, Reynolds will likely come even cheaper than the two-year, $9 million deal he signed in 2024.
However, it is not as if the cheaper cost comes alongside a corresponding decrease in value. Reynolds’ poor numbers in 2024 can be explained away by injuries that seem unlikely to have a lasting effect on his game. Early in 2024, he was the same player that he was in 2023. He just missed time with a finger injury and never got another chance to be utilized. Considering all of these factors, Reynolds is a strong candidate to outperform the contract he will likely command.
Compensatory formula
On Thursday, we discussed the compensatory draft pick system and why it might be part of Mougey’s motivation to take a conservative approach in free agency. As a result of their 2025 free agent moves to date, the Jets are currently projected to gain a fourth-round compensatory pick in 2026. They have lost four compensatory free agents while adding only three.
Signing Reynolds would allow Mougey to maintain the Jets’ position in the compensatory formula. Since Reynolds was released by Jacksonville (as opposed to becoming an unrestricted free agent through an expiring contract), he would not count as a compensatory free agent. So, no matter what salary he earns from the Jets, he will not hurt the Jets’ ability to earn compensatory draft picks.
If the Jets want to strengthen their wide receiver depth without deviating from the team-building strategies they have employed this offseason, Reynolds is a perfect target.