NY Jets Post-2021 NFL Draft State of the Roster: Cornerbacks

Surprisingly enough, despite all the veteran free agent pickups made by the NY Jets this offseason, the one position that they did not address through trade or free agency is cornerback.

Thus far, not a single veteran that figures to be in the team's base or nickel defense has been signed. 

At the time of writing, the Jets' most reliable veteran cornerback from the last couple of years, Brian Poole, remains unsigned. Whether or not he returns remains to be seen.

Surprisingly enough, even at this stage of the offseason, there are still prominent veteran corners available on the open market. Most notably, Steven Nelson and Richard Sherman.

The latter option in Sherman is someone that many have earmarked for Robert Saleh since he arrived in New York, but for whatever reason, that particular pairing hasn't happened yet, and it might not. 

One of the first things that Saleh, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel, and the entire Jets defensive staff did upon arriving at Florham Park was reassess the holdover players returning from last year's Jets team.

As we sit here now in the spring, what's quite revealing about that entire process is how much faith the new staff has in those players and the team's scouting department.

Unless some new acquisitions are made in the coming weeks and months, this is the group of young cornerbacks that the Jets will be going to war with in 2021.

Between the returning corners and the ones recently drafted and signed out of college., the competition is going to be wide open.