6 players the NY Jets were right to move on from in 2022

2. Jarrad Davis, LB, NY Jets

Perhaps no free-agent signing was a bigger bust in 2021 than Jarrad Davis. Signed in the first wave of free agency, the Jets believed they could salvage Davis' career in their defensive system.

A former first-round pick of the Detroit Lions, Davis fell well short of expectations with his first team, but that didn't stop the Jets from giving him a one-year contract worth up to $7 million last offseason.

Injuries would limit him to just nine games and five starts as he lost his starting job to waiver-wire pickup Quincy Williams before long. Davis was a liability in 2021 — there's really no other way to put it.

The Jets hoped that a change of scenery would do Davis some good. Instead, they swung and missed and Davis returned to Detroit a year later. A lose-lose for everyone involved.

1. Marcus Maye, S, NY Jets

Speaking of a change of scenery, no Jets player needed that more than Marcus Maye this offseason. Injuries, off-field issues, contract disputes, and an overall dip in quality of play plagued Maye's final 12 months with the Jets.

A player who was once seen as a franchise cornerstone and one of the better safeties in football had completely fallen out of favor with the organization — and the feeling was mutual.

Maye is a good player who, if he can return to his pre-injury form, should find plenty of success with the New Orleans Saints. But the Jets were never going to pay him the three-year, $28.5 million contract he received from his new team.

Instead, the Jets signed the younger Jordan Whitehead and brought back a few familiar faces from last year. Sometimes a breakup could be beneficial for both parties. That appears to be the case with Maye and the Jets.