New York Jets would be smart to lock up Brian Poole to long-term deal

It’s time for the New York Jets to lock up cornerback Brian Poole to a long-term deal. Here’s how much it’ll cost them + why it would be a smart move.

The New York Jets are in the middle of their longest winning streak of the season and a big reason for that is veteran cornerback Brian Poole.

In early March the Jets signed Poole to a one-year deal for $3.5 million and to be candid, the move completely flew under the radar.

That contract made Brian the 57th highest paid cornerback in football per Spotrac, but if the team is smart they’ll be giving him a large Christmas bonus this offseason to keep him in green and white for the foreseeable future.

Over the last three weeks, Poole has allowed the fewest yards per coverage snap at 0.28 (minimum 70 cover snaps) among defensive backs, per Michael Nania of Gang Green Nation.

Also featured in the top-seven of that statistic over the last three weeks is Jets’ corners Bless Austin (0.46) and Arthur Maulet (0.55), who placed fifth and seventh respectively.

In other words, he’s been very good this season and has far outplayed his contract.

On Sunday he got his first interception with the Jets and took it back to the house vs the Oakland Raiders deep in the third quarter.

Nev and B-Poole making it happen!#OAKvsNYJ | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/NPmlahka2G

— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 24, 2019

Sadly Poole in all his excitement lost the football in the stands, but has since recovered it he revealed on Twitter.

Something else Brian should be excited about is the money that should be hitting his bank account sooner rather than later.

How much will it cost the Jets?

Well, fortunately, we aren’t talking about a Darrelle Revis type of contract, slot corners are paid far less than outside corners.

Per Spotrac, the highest-paid slot corner is Justin Coleman of the Detroit Lions (which makes him the 22nd highest-paid cornerback in football).

This offseason he signed a four-year $36 million contract that pays him $9 million annually. He received $16 million guaranteed at signing.

When you take a deep dive into the analytics Coleman and Poole’s career numbers are eerily similar:

• Poole has played in the NFL for 4 years.
• Coleman has played in the NFL for 5 years.
• Poole actually has far more tackles (246) than Coleman (167), sacks (5) than Coleman (2), and interceptions Poole (5), Coleman (4), despite playing a season fewer.

So, in theory, Brian could ask for at least what Justin got from the Lions.

The Jets have over $60 million in available funds right now, so they could sign him before the season is over (similar to what they did with tight end Ryan Griffin). Or if they wait until the offseason they can shed at least another $19 million off the books with some roster finagling.