Early expectations for Jets 2018 free agency on offense

The New York Jets are gearing up for an important offseason ahead.  Here is a glance at what players you can anticipate the Jets adding on offense via free agency.

This offseason, the New York Jets have a lot of salary cap money to play with and majors areas to address. Of course, their offense last season left much to the imagination. They weren’t good at third down conversions, they didn’t score a lot of touchdowns, and well, they need help bad on the offensive side of the ball if they ever want to be contenders in the future.

Ideally, the Jets need to add some better talent at quarterback, running back, and don’t even get me started on their offensive line. They can fix some of these issues right from the start at free agency and hopefully, general manager Mike Maccagnan can get the job done this offseason.

It’s time the Jets start spending money to build a contender but to spend it wisely. The last thing they want to do is invest too many resources into a top free agent quarterback or running back and limit themselves in addressing other key areas.

With free agency on the horizon, what should the Jets do to fix their offensive woes? Well, it all starts at quarterback as here are some early expectations for who the Jets might acquire via free agency.

Quarterbacks

The greatest talk of all free agents has been quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins is undoubtedly searching for a long-term deal after the Washington Redskins let him walk this year. His value currently stands at $25 million a year. That could easily rise as teams who are longing for a quarterback find themselves in a bidding war and overpay for this years’ biggest free agent.

The Jets would certainly need to consider signing Cousins. But, before the hefty named free agent became available, Gang Green was on the course of finding their quarterback via this year’s draft. Which has been classified by some experts, as the best QB class to come out since 2004.

I personally do not feel, for countless reasons that the Jets should change their course via signing this years’ most tempting named free agent of them all for plentiful of reasons that would be too long to force into this specific article. I say, stay the course and grab our future quarterback with our first round pick in this years’ draft.

New York will require a veteran quarterback that will help guide their first-round draft pick on becoming accumulated directly toward the NFL’s game of pace and lifestyle. Unquestionably, the best QB available to do that in this year’s free agent pool is indeed once again Josh McCown. New York would have no problem signing McCown as he has made it clear he would love to come back to New York.

Yes, McCown is 38 years old, yet, telling by last years play he could very well still have a year or two left in him. He is the ideal QB available for assisting with the Jets first round QB choice. Last year McCown signed a one-year $6 million dollar contract. Expect the same or a million less contract wise.

Next: Running Back

Running Backs

Current Jets running back Bilal Powell has to be named this years’ number one back as he just absolutely deserves it and can handle everything that comes with being what a number one should be.  In addition, last year’s sixth-round pick Elijah McGuire, who saw 88 carries while combining 315 yards on the ground, deserves number two duties. He also deserves a larger role as he’s immensely talented.

His 3.6 yards per carry was just about the same as veteran running back Matt Forte. Forte struggled mightily to stay healthy once again last year and will likely be cut, saving the Jets $3 million in salary cap money.

With Forte being cut look for the Jets to sign a free agent who could include a little bit of upside while not costing much against the cap, such as Los Angeles Chargers running back Branden Oliver, who is 26 years old with four years experience.

Next: Wide Receivers

Wide Receivers

The Jets need a true number one wide receiver this year. Last year’s expected number one Quincy Enunwa missed all of last season with a season-ending injury right before it began. This tossed Robby Anderson into the number one spotlight in 2017. Robby fared exceptionally well and dealt with being the number one without too much difficulty on the field. Albeit after the season and just weeks ago, Robby landed himself once again into the offseason in trouble with the law spotlight.

A hefty suspension could be handed down by Roger Goodell and the NFL, also quite possibly by the Jets themselves. It’s an extremely appalling, yet in addition a very immature and miserable, immature circumstance Anderson finds himself in once again.

In spite of the fact, it’s something that should be able to be worked out between the club and Anderson. It has to be an eye-opener for the exceptionally young receiver, who has an abundance of talent on the field, he now needs to interpret that off the field. The Jets can work this out with Anderson and give him one more chance. We will wait and witness how this unfortunate situation plays out.

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Without a doubt, it would be sufficient for Gang Green to land a solid WR. Miami’s Jarvis Landry should be vigorously on the New York Jets radar. Landry will come with a robust price tag. His market value according to Spotrac currently stands at $13.8 million dollars annually. Ranking him 7th out of all NFL WR’s.  

What the Jets receive in Landry is a receiver who is going to be open within the 10-15 yard range and open the field up for other WR’s to wind up open further down the field. In Landry’s first four years he has two years with over 100 receptions, has two one thousand yard seasons and 22 total touchdowns. Last year he became an elite receiver who was able to find the end zone with nine touchdowns. Jarvis would fit in nicely with the Jets current wideouts, giving opposing defenses more to worry about when the Jets step onto the field.

Next: Tight Ends

Tight Ends

The Jets took a chance on 25-year-old tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins last year who had two prior DUI’s and an undeniable battle with alcoholism that was holding him back. New York signed him and it paid off as Jenkins broke out and had a very fine season in the Jets offense. So, it’s pretty clear that they would love to have him back.

The question though is he permanently over his battle with alcoholism which could strike at any time for the tight end who was the Jets third-leading receiver. Hauling in 50 catches for 357 yards with three TD’s.

Seferian Jenkins market value is set at $4.1 million dollars annually. I anticipate the two sides to come to some kind of deal soon and have the Jets tight end position set before free agency begins.

Next: Offensive Linemen

Offensive Linemen

The biggest needs on the line are at offensive tackle and the center position. Maccagnan could permanently nail down the center spot by signing potential free agent Ryan Jensen of the Baltimore Ravens.

Jensen was one of the NFL’s top centers last year. He excelled mostly by bringing the Ravens powerful run blocking, brute toughness, and was very physical on the line. He is in his prime at 26 years of age. His market value stands at five years $44 million, which would make him the 4th highest paid center in the league.

This year’s 2018 offensive tackle free agent list is not pretty at all. The list is full of often injured players, something the Jets certainly do not need. Taking a look at some of the healthier free agents available, Cameron Fleming of the New England Patriots could suffice. He did a solid job filling in for an injured Marcus Cannon. He is at a nice young age of 25-years-old and is worth a look. 

Must Read: Top 5 free agents the Jets should go after

With very little on the open market at the offensive tackle position, New York should be looking to fill this position with some youth at this year’s draft.