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The New York Jets have considered hitting the eject button on one of its most promising players.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared in a column that was posted on Tuesday, June 20 that Gang Green has had multiple trade conversations about defensive lineman Bryce Huff.
“I’ve heard that teams have called the Jets about trading for Huff this offseason, though nothing has materialized,” Rosenblatt stated.
Jets Insider Predicted Huff Trade Rumors Would Occur
Earlier this offseason the Jets restructured Carl Lawson’s contract for the 2023 season.
The talented defender took a pay cut but in doing so increased the guaranteed total he would be making in the final year of his contract. That move ensured that he would be on the Jets roster this season.
Lawson became the fourth of the Jets’ top six defensive ends to have guaranteed money on their deals. He joined John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, and Will McDonald, per Cimini.
The only two players among the top six that don’t have guaranteed money are Huff and Micheal Clemons.
Cimini said on May 18 that he “wouldn’t” be surprised if Huff “draws trade interest.”
Huff was a restricted free agent this offseason. The Jets placed a second-round tender on him.
If another NFL team had signed him to an offer sheet and Gang Green decided not to match they would have received a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
However, that never transpired and Huff ended up signing his tender. It is a one-year deal for $4.3 million, per Spotrac.
The former Memphis product is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason in 2024.
Huff Has Been Underutilized With Jets
The Jets considering trading away a 25-year-old “elite option as a sub-package pass rusher” as Rosenblatt describes seems crazy.
However, when you consider how the team has deployed him it isn’t as crazy as you think.
Last season the Jets made Huff a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season. Each week head coach Robert Saleh was asked why he chose to bench such a talented player and he provided unsatisfactory responses that didn’t seem to explain anything.
Even when Huff did play last year he only participated in 20 percent of the defensive snaps.
In three seasons with the Jets, Huff has recorded 7.5 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, and one forced fumble. Over that time span, he has appeared in 37 games but has only made seven starts.
This offseason the Jets traded for a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Aaron Rodgers. When you pull off a move of that magnitude you signal to your team and the rest of the league that you’re chasing a championship.
Teams that claim they’re contenders normally aren’t in the business of trading away 25-year-old talent. What could you possibly acquire that would be better than a young pass rusher with elite traits?
Huff received a 90.4 overall and 88.0 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus for his contributions during the 2022 season.
If the Jets traded Huff for future draft compensation that would weaken the team in 2023. If this is an all-in season, you want to add more pieces to the championship puzzle, not take them away.
So far nothing has materialized from those trade conversations, but the fact that Joe Douglas fielded the calls and didn’t immediately hang up is interesting, to say the least.
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