NY Jets: 3 available free agents the team has shown interest in signing

The NY Jets have shown interest, but are yet to make a move for these three unsigned free agents.

NY Jets‘ general manager Joe Douglas certainly did his fair share of window shopping in his first offseason with the organization.

Call it due diligence or whatever you’d like, Douglas showed interest in a myriad of free agents — many of whom the team didn’t end up actually signing.

Sure, Douglas also got quite a few deals done as well. Players like Connor McGovern, Greg Van Roten, and Pierre Desir represent some of the more notable free-agent additions to the roster.

Meanwhile, others such as Brian Poole, Jordan Jenkins, and Neville Hewitt were brought back at reasonable rates to further fill out the roster.

But needless to say, Douglas made sure to test the waters and shop around in search of any potential additions to the team. Many of those players ended up being signed (perhaps to more lucrative contracts) with other organizations.

However, for one reason or another, some just didn’t end up signing. Be it because of this wacky, cap-concerned offseason or other injury/football-related issues — there remain quite a few valuable free agents on the open market.

And a handful of them, the Jets have shown interest in signing in the past. Some have been given more recent attention while for others, the moment may have passed.

Either way, we’re here to take a look at three unsigned free agents the Jets have shown interest in signing.

Next: 3. Demaryius Thomas

3. The NY Jets have shown interest in WR Demaryius Thomas

Of the three players on this list, Demaryius Thomas is the only player who spent last season with the Jets. But he still qualifies as a free agent that they’ve considered signing

The veteran wideout was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots last season that sent a 2021 sixth-round pick packing to their arch-rivals.

Thomas would go on to start 10 games with the Jets in 2019 finishing the year with 36 catches for 433 yards and one touchdown. Modest numbers without a doubt, but he still helped stabilize a weak wide receiver corps following Quincy Enunwa‘s season-ending injury.

Now, Thomas was clearly a shell of his former self. The once-dominant wide receiver was reduced to a sluggish, albeit reliable second/third-tier receiving target. And at 32-years-old, that’s pretty much what you’re going to get.

But that doesn’t mean that Thomas can’t still provide value to the team.

The longtime Denver Broncos wideout was a valuable veteran leader for the Jets last season even being given the captain patch in the middle of the year. The players loved him and so too did the coaching staff.

For that reason, it makes sense that there is reported interest in bringing him back. As per a recent article from Connor Hughes of The Athletic, the “Jets are still talking to free-agent wideout Demaryius Thomas” about a “possible return.”

Thomas knows the system and has the support of the coaching staff. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this one get done.

Next: 2. Vinny Curry

2. The NY Jets have shown interest in EDGE Vinny Curry

The Jets went into the offseason needing edge rusher help — as they seemingly have every year for well over a decade now. But instead of targeting the top names such as Jadeveon Clowney or Dante Fowler, the Jets instead opted for more low-profile fixes.

In fact, the Jets only made one addition at the position in the form of third-round pick Jabari Zuniga who’s expected to be used in a hybrid lineman/stand-up role — similarly to how Kyle Phillips was used last season.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t show interest in free agency, however. One player they reportedly had a ton of interest in was veteran pass rusher Vinny Curry.

Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News was the first to report the interest back in March and multiple other sources backed his claim up. However, there really hasn’t been much on that supposed “interest” since then.

Nonetheless, Curry would be a fantastic addition to the Jets’ roster.

The 32-year-old has spent seven of his eight seasons in Philadelphia including this past season where he totaled five sacks in 16 games for the Eagles.

Serving a rotational pass rusher role, Curry finished with an excellent 79.8 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus — significantly better than any player currently on the Jets roster.

And if he were to join the Jets, that’s exactly the role he’d fill rotating with the likes of Tarell Basham and company. Curry was notably a member of the Eagles’ Super Bowl team while Joe Douglas was there meaning that there is a prior connection between the two.

Bringing a productive veteran pass rusher like Curry in could do wonders for the Jets pass rush and his prior history with Douglas combined with the earlier reported interest means that it could still be possible.

Next: 1. Logan Ryan

1. The NY Jets have shown interest in CB Logan Ryan

The free-agent signing that just wasn’t meant to be.

It was reported in late May that the Jets “believed” that they would sign free-agent cornerback Logan Ryan — a signing that would have been arguably their biggest addition on defense.

However, their expectations obviously fell short as reports later emerged disputing that initial claim (from the aforementioned Manish Mehta) insisting that there was plenty of interest, but that the two sides were far apart in terms of salary.

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Clearly, as we enter the month of July, no signing ended up taking place. In fact, Ryan still remains very much a free agent with no deal appearing to be imminent.

The Jets had interest before, but reportedly weren’t willing to pay the $10 million per year salary that he wanted. However, time has obviously passed and Ryan’s market evidently hasn’t developed.

Might he be willing to re-consider whatever the Jets’ offer was? It’s possible.

The Jets were able to re-sign both Jordan Jenkins and Brian Poole to one-year, $5 million contracts — well-below market value. Some might call that the “Gregg Williams effect.” Perhaps that effect could sway Ryan to give the Jets another shot.

While the team’s cornerback position appears pretty crowded at the moment, I’m sure the Jets wouldn’t decline adding a player with Ryan’s starting experience to the fray.

Don’t consider this one a definite, but it’s certainly still a possibility.