Getty Several New York Jets players warming up ahead of practice.
When you enter the free agency waters you understand that the game is a bit of an educated crapshoot.
There are so many factors that come into play on whether a free agent ends up being a success or a failure at their next stop.
Scheme fit. Family life. Motivations. Personality fit in the locker room.
Sometimes you’re going to swing and miss and the New York Jets know that better than anyone. This past offseason they took a gamble and it failed miserably.
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Simply Fell Flat
Podcast host Joe Caporoso of Badlands recently trashed the Jets for their “ugly free agent miss” on linebacker Jarrad Davis.
When the free agency doors opened last year, the very first signing the Jets made was bringing in the former Detroit Lions’ first-round pick.
He signed a one-year deal for $7 million and immediately jumped into the starting lineup for Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich.
Davis failed in Detroit after not living up to his draft status as the No. 21 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. Although many teams felt like he was misused with the Lions and still had a ton of untapped potential.
While there were initially some questions about the pairing, most provided the Jets coaching staff the benefit of the doubt.
Sadly we never really got to see the coaching staff’s vision for Davis because he hurt his ankle during the preseason and missed the first seven weeks of the 2021 campaign.
We need Jarrad Davis’ encouragement in our daily lives
By the time the veteran linebacker finally got his feet underneath him, it was too late for him to find a rhythm.
All in all, Davis played in nine games and only started in five of those. During that run, he accumulated 25 tackles but failed to register a single tackle for loss, sack, a quarterback hit, or even an interception.
Regardless of the circumstances, it was a swing and a miss by the Jets and Davis will likely be a one-and-done player with the franchise.
Back to the Grindstone
It is unfortunate that things didn’t work out with Davis, but the world keeps spinning.
Now the Jets must step back up to the free-agent plate and swing the bat again.
They have two starting linebackers on the team in CJ Mosley and Quincy Williams, but in this 4-3 scheme they’ll need another.
They could choose to stay in-house and promote someone from within to fill that role:
Cashman is on his last legs with the organization based on his troubling injury history that dates back to college. While Phillips has mostly served as a special teamer and reserve linebacker throughout his career.
Although Connor Hughes of The Athletic told me that the team is very high on a pair of second-year players in Sherwood and Nasirildeen that could vie for that starting role in 2022.
While on the outside they appear to be day three dart throws from the 2021 NFL draft class, the front office holds them in very high regard.
Don’t be surprised if the Jets ignore the outside noise and decide to rock with the linebacker group they have outside of a small addition or two this offseason.
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