Coffee with the Jets: Will they keep Eric Decker?

Will the New York Jets ultimately end up keeping wide receiver Eric Decker for 2017? Let’s discuss over an iced cup of coffee.

For those of you that might not know, I’ve decided to change the way I write my daily “Coffee with the New York Jets” series. At first, I used to curate all the top articles from sources across the internet and discuss them. This time around, I wanted to make these a bit more interactive.

I asked my loyal readers via Twitter to ask me any questions on the Jets they had that would be featured in upcoming articles here on The Jet Press. The responses and questions were fantastic and make for some excellent discussion over coffee. I mean, who doesn’t love to sit back and talk football over a high-quality brew?

Today’s question comes from Nick as he asked:

@Jetsnum1N Will the Jets keep Eric Decker? https://t.co/xDoav6IEyO

— Nick (@Jetsnum1N) May 11, 2017

Last week, I discussed this topic in detail as it makes sense for the Jets to keep Decker as a veteran presence at least for this upcoming season. He’s already participating in voluntary workouts so far this offseason and is looking like he’ll be coming back from rehab by the time training camp arrives.

Of course, offseason workouts are different from regular season action as it remains to be seen how he’ll do once he’s on the gridiron. It makes sense for the Jets to keep him since they’ll need at least one veteran wide receiver to help keep all the younger receivers in check.

Besides wide receivers coach Karl Dorell, it’s imperative all the younger players in the positional group have an established veteran receiver like Decker to help groom them throughout the year. Since wide receiver Brandon Marshall bolted via free agency, Decker is the only legitimate veteran on the Jets that has the most experience to guide young players when they make mistakes, need that extra motivation, or have questions that only a player can answer.

Next: Top 5 positions to address next offseason

Overall, keeping Decker as quality depth at wide receiver makes sense in the grand scheme of things. He won’t be a No. 1 receiving option as Quincy Enunwa should earn such a role this offseason but Decker would be great as a No. 3/slot receiver on offense. He still has gas in the tank to get big first downs and make no mistake about, will haul in a few touchdown passes in 2017.