NY Jets finally sign a quality veteran WR with ties to the new regime

The New York Jets have continued to scour the market for wide receiver help after the first wave of free agency, and on Thursday, the team finally found another potential answer.

The Jets have agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth up to $5 million ($2.75 million in guarantees) with veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds. The eight-year NFL veteran is the first free agent over 30 years old the Jets have signed so far this offseason.

Reynolds has experience with both new head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey, making him an obvious target for the wide-receiver-needy Jets. He also comes with a bit more of a pedigree than the Jets' other wide receiver addition, Tyler Johnson.

Reynolds is just one year removed from a 2023 season with the Detroit Lions in which he finished with 40 catches for 608 yards and five touchdowns. The Jets will hope he can replicate that production in New York this upcoming season.

Josh Reynolds gives the NY Jets some much-needed wide receiver depth

A fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Reynolds spent the first four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Rams, where he developed into a quality depth receiver. Reynolds finished the 2020 season, his last in Los Angeles, with a career-high 52 catches for 618 yards and two touchdowns.

He'd sign with the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, but after appearing in just five games, the veteran wideout was waived and picked up by the Lions. Reynolds would resurrect his career in Detroit, crossing paths with Glenn and new Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand.

The former Texas A&M standout would sign a two-year, $9 million deal with Mougey and the Denver Broncos last offseason, although a hand injury sidelined him after just five games. Reynolds was then the victim of a shooting incident, which ultimately led to his premature departure.

He'd spend the rest of the 2024 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars after he was waived and claimed once again, catching just one pass for his new team in four games.

Reynolds has proven to be a rock-solid depth wide receiver for multiple teams in the past and provides much-needed experience to a young and thin Jets receiving corps.

Reynolds joins a Jets wide receiver room that also features the likes of Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Tyler Johnson, Malachi Corley, and Xavier Gipson. The assumption right now is that he would be the team's WR2 or WR3, although that could change in the coming weeks.

The Jets could still look to add to the position group in the draft or even release Lazard if they believe Reynolds provides adequate depth. Either way, having extra options is never a bad thing, and Reynolds is about as appealing and realistic of a wide receiver upgrade as the Jets could’ve made at this point in free agency.

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