4 NY Jets we can safely call busts after the 2023 season

The NY Jets have had their fair share of free-agent and draft misses over the years. From Trumaine Johnson to Vernon Gholston, the Jets have an extensive past of busts in their franchise history.

Unfortunately, the current roster is no exception to that rule. The Jets underachieved in 2023, due in part to Aaron Rodgers' injury, sure, but also due to their underperforming roster.

A host of players added by general manager Joe Douglas, either via free agency or the draft, fell well short of expectations with the Jets. It's probably safe to say that these four Jets players can officially be declared busts.

From disastrous free-agent signings to draft blunders, here's a look at four Jets players who officially earned the "bust" label in 2023.

4. Allen Lazard, WR, NY Jets

Allen Lazard is the only player on this list who will have a chance at redemption in 2024. Unfortunately for him, he has a long way to go before he can begin to shed the dreaded "bust" label.

The Jets signed Lazard to a four-year, $44 million contract last offseason, giving him the most guaranteed money of any wide receiver in free agency. The hope was that Lazard could be a capable WR2 alongside Garrett Wilson. That didn't happen.

Lazard struggled mightily with drops and found himself a healthy scratch multiple times throughout the season. The Jets opted to play undrafted free agents over the former Green Bay wideout.

Lazard is still under contract in 2024, meaning he will have a chance to rewrite the narrative. As it stands now, however, he's approaching "one of the worst free-agent signings in Jets history" territory.

3. Zach Wilson, QB, NY Jets

Zach Wilson was likely already seen by most as a "bust" entering the 2023 season. The former No. 2 overall pick had been benched multiple times the previous season, including once for CFL quarterback Chris Streveler.

Still, there was at least a sliver of hope that he might still have a future with the organization. The Jets held onto Wilson as their QB2 going into the year, with the expectation that he would sit and learn behind one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

2023 was supposed to be a redshirt season for Wilson. Instead, he was thrust into action just four plays into the season following Rodgers' torn Achilles. What followed was another season of league-worst quarterback play with Wilson under center.

Wilson did make some strides this past season. His performance in primetime against the Kansas City Chiefs was one of the best of his career, while his game against the Houston Texans was one of the best by a Jets quarterback in years.

Unfortunately, Wilson's inconsistencies were still a major issue. He finished the year with just eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in 12 games, once again getting benched, this time in favor of the abysmal Tim Boyle.

Wilson's time with the Jets is expected to come to an end in the coming weeks as the team explores trade opportunities. Perhaps he can turn his career around with a change of scenery, but he will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest busts in Jets history.

2. Carl Lawson, DE, NY Jets

The Carl Lawson signing made a ton of sense for the Jets at the time. The former Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher was coming off a season in which he finished fourth in the entire NFL with 64 pressures.

Lawson was legitimately one of the best pass rushers in the NFL when the Jets signed him, hence the three-year, $45 million price tag attached to his shiny new contract. The early results were promising.

Lawson was the Jets' best player in his first training camp with the team and looked to be on the verge of stardom. That was until he tragically suffered a torn Achilles in a joint summer practice with the Green Bay Packers.

He would return to appear in all 17 games the following season, but it was clear that Lawson wasn't his same pre-injury self. The Jets had an opportunity to release Lawson in the offseason and save $15 million in the process.

They passed, instead restructuring his contract to push dead money into the future. The Jets believed that a healthy Lawson two years removed from a torn Achilles could still play a significant part in their defensive line rotation in 2023.

They were wrong. Lawson suffered a back injury in the summer and was once again not healthy this past season. He appeared in just six games and was mostly a "healthy" scratch in a loaded defensive line room.

It's a downright shame that we never got to see a fully healthy Carl Lawson with the Jets. The move made sense on paper, but there's no other way to frame this — it was a bust of a signing.

1. Mekhi Becton, OT, NY Jets

Joe Douglas' first draft pick is also one of his most infamous. Mekhi Becton is another case of injuries derailing a once-promising career.

The 11th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Becton put together an excellent rookie season that had many penciling him in as a long-term building block for the franchise.

A pre-season poll of 50+ NFL executives, coaches, scouts, etc. even had Becton ranked as the sixth-best offensive tackle in all of football entering the 2021 season. The national consensus was that Becton was on the verge of superstardom.

Then, the injury bug struck — and it struck hard.

Becton suffered a serious knee injury in Week 1 of the 2021 season and would go on to miss the remainder of the year. The former first-round pick returned the following year, only to suffer another knee injury before the season started.

Becton appeared in just one game between 2021 and 2022, prompting the Jets to decline his fifth-year option. 2023 was Becton's final opportunity to prove that he deserves to stick around as a long-term building block.

The Louisville product got himself into the best shape of his career in the offseason and finally stayed healthy throughout most of the 2023 season. Unfortunately, his performance on the field left a lot to be desired.

The Jets are almost guaranteed to move on from Becton this offseason, ending the tenure of a player who once seemed prime to be a franchise cornerstone. Here's to hoping he can stay healthy and find success with another team, but as far as the Jets are concerned, this was a classic draft bust.