Getty San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Arden Key celebrating after a huge defensive play.
The New York Jets haven’t taken a big swing at EDGE rusher yet this offseason, but they have done some nice work adding some depth.
They already signed Jacob Martin from the Houston Texans on a three-year deal for $13.5 million. A low-risk versus high-reward kind of move that’ll bring some nice pop to the room in that Vinny Curry role.
Although one analyst believes they should dip their toes back in the water one more time ahead of the 2022 NFL draft.
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Can’t Have Enough Bodies in the Room
Joe Caporoso wrote a column for Badlands suggesting the green and white should do their homework on free agent pass rusher Arden Key who remains unsigned.
The 25-year-old (will be 26 by the start of the 2022 season) is intimately familiar with the Robert Saleh scheme after spending last year with the San Francisco 49ers.
It is no coincidence that Key is coming off of the best year of his young career:
- 6.5 sacks
- 17 games played
- 17 quarterback hits
In @JCaporoso‘s @TapRmBeer 12-pack he said a name to watch could be pass rusher Arden Key ahead of the 2022 #NFLDraft in free agency.
– 25 years old
– Coming off of a career year (6.5 sacks) & did it in only 374 defensive snaps
– Add some depth
In the prior three years combined he only totaled three sacks and failed to make a consistent impact.
Despite showing some pop last year, Key remains available in free agency. It seems like his market hasn’t developed the way some people thought it would and that could directly benefit the Jets.
Pro Football Focus projected him to land a two-year deal that paid him $12.5 million with $6.25 million of that guaranteed. Perhaps now he will be more open to taking a one-year prove-it deal to try and earn his big-money contract in 2023.
He already proved last year that he is an ideal fit for the scheme with his impressive production. Now he can bet on himself one more time to truly cash in.
Key to Taking the Next Step
Regardless of how good the talent is on the defensive line, Saleh remained committed to his principles.
There will be a rotation on the defensive line and his thought process is everyone will stay fresh so you can maximize your ability to get to the quarterback all day long.
A good example of that is how he handled budding star, Quinnen Williams. He was one of the reasons Saleh decided to join the Jets, but despite his excitement, he held the former Alabama product from himself.
Williams only played in 59 percent of the defensive snaps. While most fans would’ve preferred to see him play way more, Saleh stuck with his process.
In other words, you can’t have enough guys in the defensive line room.
Even if the Jets were to add Key to the mix, that wouldn’t rule them out from taking another top pass rusher in the first round of April’s draft.
As a matter of fact, we can almost write it in pen that an EDGE rusher will be one of the Jets’ two picks inside the top-10.
The room got ravaged with injuries last year and it had a crippling ripple effect on the rest of the defense. Saleh isn’t going to let that happen again in 2022 and one way to prevent that is having a ton of bodies with varying skillsets in the room.
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