The New York Jets replaced John Simpson with Dylan Parham in free agency.
Gang Green signed the former Las Vegas Raiders offensive lineman to a two-year, $16 million contract with $7.49 million guaranteed in free agency.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell called that the “worst signing” of the offseason for the Jets.
“Teams have taken shots on former Raiders in free agency with the hopes of getting more out of players once they leave Las Vegas. A year ago, that was a success for the Panthers with Tre’von Moehrig, but the Packers didn’t enjoy the same results with Nate Hobbs, who was cut after one season,” Barnwell explained.
“It’s possible that the Jets realize some level of improvement with Parham, who was a four-year starter alongside some rough offensive lines in Las Vegas. But I’m just not sure there has been starting-caliber offensive line play during his time with the Raiders. Parham gave up only five sacks last season, but he also got help more than 54% of the time in pass protection, which was well above the league average of 48% for left guards. Isolated against upper-echelon pass rushers such as Jeffery Simmons and Tuli Tuipulotu, Parham struggled badly,” Barnwell wrote.
“There’s nothing wrong with having trouble against great players, and Parham might improve with better players around him, but his résumé probably didn’t support a deal that will pay him $8 million this season. Then again, this probably wasn’t the worst deal we saw for a young guard this offseason,” Barnwell added.
Beat Reporter Pushes Back
Nick Faria of Sports Illustrated on the Jets on SI team joined me on “Boy Green Daily.”
I asked for his reaction to Parham being listed as the “worst signing” that the Jets made this offseason.
“I would argue this is probably a little bit of a reach here from Barnwell. First off, you want to talk about him being a substandard player on a bad offensive line. He was probably their best offensive lineman. I mean, you look at his overall grades, pass blocking rates, win block rates in the run game, and it was better than John Simpson last year. He was a better player than John Simpson,” Faria told me on the podcast.
Simpson spent the last two years with the Jets as their starting left guard. This offseason, he joined the Baltimore Ravens in free agency on a three-year, $30 million deal that included $17.5 million in guarantees. The Jets replaced him by signing Parham in free agency.
According to Over The Cap, Simpson is the 13th highest-paid left guard in the NFL based on his $10 million annual salary.
Parham’s $8 million annual salary places him No. 15 among the highest-paid left guards in the league, per Over The Cap.
Simpson, 28, will turn 29 before the start of the 2026 season. Parham, 26, will turn 27 before the start of the 2026 season.
If Faria’s assessment is correct, the Jets got the better player, at a younger age, and at a lower price.
First World Problem
If the Jets’ “worst signing” was adding a 26-year-old to essentially a one-year deal of guaranteed money, then they must be doing pretty well.
If Parham ends up being lackluster, the Jets can move on from him after a year. If he is better than people think, then Parham can plug a void at left guard for another year going into 2027.
A lot of teams on Barnwell’s list had a lot worse moves than the Jets’ signing Parham.
Jets $16 Million Free Agent Addition Labeled ‘Worst Signing’