NY Jets re-sign backup OT Conor McDermott to one-year extension

The NY Jets have re-signed tackle Conor McDermott to a one-year extension.

The NY Jets likely aren’t going to retain the vast majority of their current roster over the course of the next year. But one player who seems like he’ll be sticking around is backup offensive tackle Conor McDermott.

The Jets announced on Friday that they had re-signed McDermott to a one-year extension that will keep him in New York through the 2021 season.

The details of the contract are unknown at the time of writing, but it presumably will be a very cheap deal with little to no guaranteed money.

This probably isn’t among the top players that Jets fans thought the team would re-sign before the season was over. In fact, most probably assumed that McDermott, the team’s fourth offensive tackle, wouldn’t even be back in 2021.

Evidently, the Jets feel differently about the former UCLA standout.

McDermott was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. However, he failed to make the roster out of training camp and was part of final roster cuts.

The Buffalo Bills would pick him up off waivers the following day and he would go on to play eight games for the team split between 2017 and 2018. He didn’t record a start and played sparingly on offense.

Buffalo cut ties in early October of last year and the Jets quickly swooped in and claimed him off waivers. McDermott played in seven games last season even starting a pair of games due to multiple injuries at the position.

He returned to the team in 2020 and managed to make the 53-man roster. The 28-year-old has played in eight of nine games this season receiving offensive snaps in four contests.

Conor McDermott has struggled when on the field for the NY Jets in 2020

Most notably, he filled in after injuries to the likes of Mekhi Becton and Chuma Edoga in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos where he played 73 percent of offensive snaps.

On the season, McDermott has surrendered two sacks and been tagged for one penalty in just 125 snaps. His Pro Football Focus grade of 56.4 would rank well below-average at his position if he played enough snaps to qualify.

At 6-foot-8, 305 pounds, McDermott has the physical pedigree to be a starting-caliber offensive tackle in the NFL. But nothing he has shown over the course of his career would even indicate that he’s backup-caliber.

This move is certainly a little out of left field, but it’s likely for very little money so it shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

Even with McDermott returning in 2021, the Jets should still look to upgrade their offensive tackle depth.