NY Jets news: Mike LaFleur interest, Darrell Bevell, Lamar Jackson

The offseason is officially here and the NY Jets have wasted little time making things interesting as the team officially parted ways with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur on Wednesday.

LaFleur took the heat for the Jets' late-season offensive struggles and Zach Wilson's failures. But while the Jets may have been quick to move on from LaFleur, other teams clearly see the situation differently.

LaFleur is reportedly going to be a hot commodity around the league with numerous teams inquiring about his availability before he was even let go. As ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted, LaFleur "has a lot of respect around the league for his offensive mind and will have options."

The Jets will now set out to search for his replacement — a task that might not be too easy given the nature of the position they're trying to fill. LaFleur, meanwhile, shouldn't have any trouble finding a new job.

Other NY Jets news

Darrell Bevell emerging as a favorite for the Jets' OC job

It seems as though one coach has emerged as the early favorite to replace Mike LaFleur as the Jets' new offensive coordinator, that being longtime Seattle Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell.

SNY's Connor Hughes and The Athletic's Zach Rosenblatt both highlighted Bevell as a name to keep an eye on with Hughes insisting that Bevell is the name he's "heard most" when discussing who the Jets' next offensive coordinator might be.

Bevell spent time with Robert Saleh in Seattle and even won a Super Bowl with his old team before shorter, less successful stints in Detroit and Jacksonville.

He spent the 2022 season as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, but the Jets might look to pry him away and offer him a coordinator job again. Bevell would be an uninspiring but predictable and reasonable replacement for LaFleur.

Could Lamar Jackson truly be on the move?

The Baltimore Ravens signed linebacker Roquan Smith to a record-setting five-year, $100 million deal on Tuesday as the organization locked up one of their stars for the foreseeable future. Lamar Jackson, meanwhile, remains without a deal.

The Smith extension leaves the Ravens with the opportunity to use the franchise tag on Jackson this offseason — a scenario that seems more and more likely as the days go on.

Extending Smith doesn't mean the Ravens will definitely explore trading Jackson this offseason, but the optics of the move probably aren't ideal. With Jackson seemingly unlikely to play this weekend, it's quite possible he's played his last game with the Ravens.

Expect the Jets to go all-in on Jackson if he is made available. The Jets are looking for a quarterback this offseason, and they quite frankly aren't going to do any better than a 26-year-old former MVP.