The New York Jets are infamous for their free-agent blunders over the years.
They have often won the headlines and paper trophies for their moves initially before watching it crumble to pieces once the football season actually kicks off.
One analyst believes that the same situation has transpired again on 1 Jets Drive.
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Not Getting Any Love Whatsoever
Alex Ballentine recently wrote a column for Bleacher Report where he documented the worst contract for every team in the NFL.
He wasted no time pointing out CJ Mosley’s contract with the Jets as the worst one on the team. Ballentine provided a vicious attack calling the linebacker’s time with the green and white as “largely unfruitful.”
On top of that, he said that Mosley was “anything but” a reliable cog in pass coverage. Ballentine took it a step further by calling him the “weak link” of the Jets defense “routinely.”
Mosley was targeted over 68 times and gave up 58 completions, for 525 passing yards, and three touchdowns this season. Opposing passers had a 113.5 quarterback rating when looking in Mosley’s direction on passing plays.
The talented linebacker originally signed a five-year $85 million contract back in 2019 that featured over $51 million in guarantees. That is set to expire in 2025 after Mosley participated in the COVID opt-out back in 2020 tolling his contract.
It Could Be Worse
#Jets HC Robert Saleh said he’s ‘infatuated’ w/ LB CJ Mosley (@TreyDeuce32RTR) & told a great story from #Titans game saying CJ changed a playcall & they were screaming what are you doing?! He ends up getting a sack & Saleh says, ‘well that’s why he’s an All Pro’ 🤣 #TakeFlight
A valuable life lesson was learned in the signing of Mosley. While the Jets front office’s heart might have been in the right place, it was insane to reset the linebacker market in free agency.
A pillar of the Baltimore Ravens as both a leader on and off the field with an unbelievable resume made sense on paper. Although when you take into consideration things like positional value and age, it was another foolish decision by the Jets in free agency.
The good news is it wasn’t a total disaster.
Mosley is actually coming off of a career season at the ripe age of 29 (will be 30 by the start of the 2022 season). His 168 combined tackles were a career-high and one of the highest totals in Jets franchise history.
Coming off of only playing portions of two games in two years, Mosley adapted to a brand new scheme and cut an insane amount of weight to fit his new position.
On top of the tangible stats on the field, Mosely was a vocal leader off of it. That is something you can’t put a price tag on.
Regardless of how you feel about him, the former All-Pro linebacker will be back with the Jets in 2022 due to his absurd cap number ($17.5 million).
While the Jets could’ve spent their money in a better place, it is somewhat comforting that they’re getting some kind of juice out of this squeeze from several years ago.
After all the misses in recent history, it is hard to complain about hitting a ball in play.
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Prized Jets Free Agent Pickup, Team Captain Declared ‘Weak Link’