Getty A group of New York Jets offensive starters gathering around in a huddle before executing a play during an NFL game.
In today’s NFL, rookies aren’t quite making what they used to on the old collective bargaining agreement.
However, it is still a decent chunk of change. One of the generic questions these players are asked shortly after receiving this life-changing amount of money is what will be their first purchase?
While some will say expensive cars or new houses, we now know what one New York Jets rookie is planning to do this offseason with his cold hard cash.
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Time to Get to Work
On the official Jets Tik Tok account, rookie defensive lineman Jermaine Johnson and his family were touring the locker room for the very first time.
During the beginning part of the video, you can hear Johnson say he “needs to do business” with third-year wide receiver Denzel Mims in regards to the No. 11 jersey number.
#Jets DL Jermaine Johnson (@ii_jermaine) says he needs ‘to do business’ w/ WR Denzel Mims (@Zel5Zelly) regarding the No. 11 jersey number 👀: 🎥 @nyjets on @tiktok_us #TakeFlight #NFL (Maine wore No. 11 at @GeorgiaFootball, @FSUFootball, & @DreamU_IndyFB)
Johnson wore the No. 11 jersey number at all three colleges that he was a member of:
- Independence Community College
- University of Georgia
- Florida State University
Now he’d like to continue that tradition in the NFL.
Gang Green traded up in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft to select the talented pass rusher.
Mims has had the No. 11 jersey since he entered the league as the No. 59 overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Sensing a Trend
Jersey number purchases are the hot trendy thing in this 2022 offseason.
New York Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux ended up donating $50,000 to veteran Graham Gano’s charity (Puppies Behind Bars) to get the No. 5 jersey:
To get the No. 5 from veteran kicker Graham Gano, Giants’ first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux donated $50,000 to Puppies Behind Bars, which provides service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, in addition to explosive-detection canines for law enforcement.
This week, we just saw how important the No. 1 jersey was to Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner. He came to terms on a financial agreement with veteran DJ Reed Jr.
Reed will now shift to the No. 4 jersey and Sauce gets the No. 1 jersey he had while playing for Cincinnati. We aren’t aware of how much scratch he had to give up, although we know how much he didn’t thanks to a recent tweet:
I know a Cincinnati outlet didn’t post this false information. Out of all people, y’all should know I’m not a goofy🤣
Mims may be open to changing his jersey number, although he hasn’t made that stance public.
However, based on his initial two years in the league perhaps the former Baylor product would be open to a complete rebranding heading into 2022.
During his time with the Bears, Mims wore two different jersey numbers: No. 5 and No. 15.
That first number is currently taken by quarterback Mike White. While the second number is taken by placekicker Eddy Pineiro.
During the offseason, every NFL team has a 90-man roster. Most teams will have that through the preseason until we cut down to the final-53.
In other words almost every jersey number will be accounted for over the coming months, so we’ll have to see how things play out in the private dealings between players.
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