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The New York Jets are doing some homework on a very interesting player in the late stages of free agency.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Gang Green is hosting veteran linebacker, Kwon Alexander, on a visit.
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A Very Interesting Player
The 27-year-old (will be 28 by the start of the 2022 season) has played for three different NFL franchises during his seven-year career.
Most recently he was on the New Orleans Saints roster last season. He played in 12 games and started in eight of those contests.
Prior to that, he crossed over with current head coach Robert Saleh on the San Francisco 49ers for two seasons from 2019 through 2020.
Alexander signed with the 49ers during the 2019 free agency period and became the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL. His $13.5 million average topped Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers ($12.36 million) who previously held that title.
The reign as linebacker king would last all of a few days because the Jets backed up the brinks truck to bring in CJ Mosley that same offseason. He signed a five-year $85 million contract that completely reset the linebacker market with a $17 million a year average.
Low Risk vs High Reward
The Jets are super thin at linebacker with only one true locked-in starter (Mosley) maybe two with (Quincy Williams).
Beyond that, they have two dart throws from last year in Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen who are converted college safeties.
Alexander has familiarity with the scheme and would come on the cheap. That is a perfect combination at this stage of the offseason.
Over the last few years, he has dealt with an array of injuries including a torn ACL (2018) prior to his signing with the 49ers. On top of that, he tore his pec in 2019, tore his Achilles in 2020, and finished last season on injured reserve with an elbow injury.
In his entire career, Alexander has only played a full season once and that was back in 2016. When healthy he has proven to be an athletic hard-nosed competitor.
At a minimum, he would be solid depth for a unit that lacks it. The other benefit would be a nice veteran presence with someone that has been there and done that with a lot of different things throughout his career.
Saleh has cut his teeth as a linebacker whisperer and if he can get the most out of Alexander this could turn out to be a really smart signing ahead of the 2022 NFL draft.
It seems like a lot of the veterans who are still available in free agency are playing the waiting game with the draft looming. Most will probably wait until after the dust settles before picking their next location because a lot can change in the coming weeks.
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