New York Jets

The New York Jets reportedly plan to upgrade at receiver after finishing last season ranked 31st in passing.

According to Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the team has evaluated free agents Will Fuller, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kendrick Bourne.

Jamison Crowder led the Jets with 699 receiving yards in 2020, and the franchise hasn't had a 1,000-yard receiver since Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker in 2015.

Crowder is set to return in 2021, although the squad can save $10.375 million against the cap by releasing the veteran, per Spotrac. 

Whether the Jets move forward with Sam Darnold at quarterback or draft a new face of the franchise with the No. 2 overall pick, the team will need more weapons going forward.

Fuller could be an exciting option after setting career highs in 2020 with 53 catches, 879 receiving yards and eight touchdowns despite playing just 11 games. The speedster has 24 touchdowns in 53 career games and is one of the league's best deep threats when healthy.

Smith-Schuster has been up and down during his career but was a Pro Bowler in 2018 with 111 catches and 1,426 receiving yards, both in the top 10 in the NFL. After a disappointing 2019, he responded last year with 97 catches for 831 yards and nine touchdowns.

Considering he is still only 24 years old, the 2017 second-round draft pick still has loads of potential.

Bourne could also be an intriguing option as a "favorite" of Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, per Graziano and Fowler. The former undrafted free agent spent the last four years with the San Francisco 49ers, where LaFleur served as receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh also saw Bourne firsthand as San Francisco's defensive coordinator.

Bourne ranked second on the 49ers last season with 667 receiving yards, adding 49 catches and two touchdowns.

The New York Jets placed the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye on Monday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The tag is worth roughly $10.5 million, Schefter added.

The move likely keeps Maye with the team that drafted him in the second round back in 2017.

It's not exactly surprising, as general manager Joe Douglas said in his end-of-season press conference that working out a new contract for the 28-year-old was "one of the priorities of our offseason."

NFL sources told Ralph Vacchiano of SNY that they believed the Jets would use the franchise tag on Maye.

The Florida product had a career year in 2020, with 11 passes defended, two forced fumbles, a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with 88 combined tackles (four for loss) and two quarterback hits. In his third season as a 16-game starter, he posted career highs in every category.

Maye spoke fondly of his time in New York in January, when he said he felt like "the core" was set with the team despite a miserable 2-14 season.

"Just being here four years, stepping in day one, I've loved this place," he said. "I've enjoyed the people here, the teammates. Even though there have been a lot of changes throughout my years here, I've always been the same person, I've always shown up to work excited and ready to go try to win a game for the Jets."

Getting Maye back is a strong start for a team that has a long way to go defensively this offseason.

It appears New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas is yet to make a decision about the team's long-term future at quarterback. 

Peter King of NBC Sports reported Douglas could be "swayed" in one direction or another by the offers from other teams for Sam Darnold. It's unclear what the Jets may be looking for in order to trade Darnold, their 2018 first-round pick.

The Jets have the second overall pick in April's draft and will have their choice of Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Trey Lance if they want after the Jacksonville Jaguars presumably draft Trevor Lawrence with the top pick. Wilson has increasingly established himself as the second-best quarterback in this class, so the Jets' decision will likely come down to their evaluation of Wilson against Darnold.

Wilson has every physical tool a quarterback could want, with his combination of arm strength and ability to scramble out of the pocket even drawing some lofty comparisons to Patrick Mahomes. There is no world in which Darnold, on his best day, could generate Mahomes comparisons.

The Jets also have not seen much of Darnold's bests days, with the USC product flailing through his first three NFL seasons. Darnold is 13-25 as a starter and has graded as one of the NFL's worst quarterbacks, both in terms of standard counting stats and advanced metrics.

Football Outsiders' metrics have ranked Darnold no better than 30th among qualifying quarterbacks in his first three seasons. The only qualifying quarterback with worse numbers last season was Carson Wentz, who at least has previous history of success.

While a team may understandably want to buy low on Darnold, banking on the Jets' inability to acquire skill-position talent and poor coaching, it's unlikely they'll be willing to offer up much more than a conditional mid-round pick. 

The New York Jets are going to listen to trade offers for quarterback Sam Darnold.

General manager Joe Douglas told reporters Wednesday he "will answer the call" if teams want to discuss the 23-year-old.

Even though the team will listen to offers, Douglas noted the organization still values Darnold highly.

"Our stance on Sam hasn't changed. He's an extremely talented player. Very smart, very tough. We have no doubt he's going to achieve his outstanding potential," he said.

Douglas has been coy about what the Jets plan to do at quarterback under new head coach Robert Saleh.

Here's what Douglas told reporters Jan. 5, nine days before Saleh and the team agreed to a contract:

"I think that Sam's going to be a great quarterback. I'm excited to get a head coach in here, go through our process. Had a great conversation with Sam yesterday. I won't go into the specifics, but I think Sam has a very bright future in this league. So we're going to get a head coach in here, we're going to get together and we're going to talk about quite a few decisions."

The Jets are in an ideal spot given their draft position and cap situation. They own the No. 2 pick, giving them the option to select a top quarterback even if Trevor Lawrence goes to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Many projections have linked New York to BYU star Zach Wilson. There are also some established NFL quarterbacks who could be available in free agency or via trade, including Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson.

Per Over the Cap, the Jets have the second-most cap space in the league this offseason with $67.9 million. They also have an extra first-round pick (No. 23) from the Jamal Adams trade with the Seattle Seahawks.

Darnold is entering the final guaranteed season of his rookie contract, and he has a fifth-year option available that must be picked up by early May. The USC product has thrown for 8,097 yards and 45 touchdowns with 39 interceptions and a 59.8 completion percentage in 38 starts over three seasons.  

Erik Burkhardt, the agent for safety Marcus Maye, lashed out at the New York Jets for refusing to work with his client on a long-term contract extension despite their financial resources.

Burkhardt responded to a Twitter post from ESPN's Field Yates about the Jets' estimated $80 million in cap space heading toward free agency:

SNY's Ralph Vacchiano previously reported New York is expected to use the franchise tag on Maye with no sign of an extension ahead of the March 9 deadline.

Maye took on a more wide-ranging role in the Jets' secondary in 2020 after fellow safety Jamal Adams was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in July.

The 27-year-old University of Florida product responded with the best statistical season of his four-year career. He recorded 88 total tackles, 11 passes defended, two interceptions, two sacks and two forced fumbles while playing all 16 regular-season games for the third time.

"Obviously, I love it here. I'm comfortable here," Maye told reporters at season's end. "But that [contract] decision is not up to me. I can only control what I can control."

He received a strong 82.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, and he'd receive ample interest in free agency, but it doesn't sound like the Jets will allow him to hit the open market.

That's what likely sparked the strong response from Burkhardt, who would prefer for Maye to land a lucrative long-term deal coming off a career year. The franchise tag is linked to a one-year contract, and New York would retain the ability to use it on the safety again after the 2021 campaign.

In January, Jets general manager Joe Douglas said a new deal for Maye would be "one of the priorities" of the team's offseason.

If the team does use the tag on the safety, the sides would still have until July 15 to come to terms on an extension before he's locked into the one-year deal.

The Jets may opt to hold off extension talks until next year, however, and instead use their cap space to upgrade the roster elsewhere with the front office facing pressure to end a 10-year playoff drought.

There has been no bigger storyline during the NFL offseason than the trading of several big-name quarterbacks such as Matthew Stafford and Carson Wentz and the potential movement of superstars like Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson.

Smack dab in the middle of that buzz are the New York Jets, who have a major question to answer at the position and also hold the No. 2 overall pick in the draft.

According to Joseph Person of The Athletic, BYU quarterback Zach Wilson "might not make it past the Jets at No. 2." But that's hardly a done deal, with Person reporting "some league insiders believe the Jets will hang on to Sam Darnold and make the No. 2 pick available, which would not come cheap."

The future of Darnold is New York's most pressing decision this offseason. The argument for moving on from Darnold is pretty simple—he hasn't been very good. 

In three seasons, Darnold has thrown for 8,097 yards, 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions in 38 games, completing just 59.8 percent of his passes. He's been sacked 98 times and the Jets are just 13-25 in his starts. 

Thus far, he has not lived up to being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft. The Jets could trade the USC product for assets, or they could use the No. 2 pick on a player like Wilson or Justin Fields (assuming Trevor Lawrence is the top overall pick) and pair new head coach Robert Saleh with a new quarterback.

The argument for keeping Darnold is a bit more nuanced. Sure, he's been bad, but it's not as though the Jets have had a good offensive line or weapons around him. His head coach was Adam Gase, who's had one winning season in his five years as an NFL head coach. 

Giving Darnold another season to prove himself under Saleh would allow the Jets to draft a player at a different position of need or trade the No. 2 pick for a treasure trove of future draft assets. And if Darnold continues to play poorly, the Jets could explore trading him in the future (he's entering the last year of his rookie deal, though the organization could exercise his club option for the 2022 season). 

Decisions, decisions. The future of the organization will be decided in a big way this offseason. 

The New York Jets are evaluating all their options at quarterback, and BYU's Zach Wilson has reportedly stood out as a potential draft pick at No. 2 overall.

"They're going to comb through all the draft picks," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter on Sunday. "I know the BYU player is someone the Jets are intrigued by. They like his game. They believe he can really spin it."

The Jets could still be active on the trade market while "monitoring the situation" around Deshaun Watson, while current quarterback Sam Darnold is considered "viable option," per Fowler.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network previously reported the team's plan to evaluate all potential draft picks before making a decision on Darnold.

While Trevor Lawrence is widely considered the top quarterback in the 2021 draft class, there is debate about the second-best prospect, with Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance and Mac Jones among the options.

Wilson, especially, turned heads in 2020, leading BYU to an 11-1 record while totaling 33 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns and just three interceptions. He also completed 73.5 percent of his passes on the way to 3,692 yards, enough to finish eighth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon projected the Jets to take Wilson at No. 2, noting the quarterback "does a lot that resembles Patrick Mahomes' and Kyler Murray's games."

This type of upside would be welcome in New York, especially after Darnold's struggles last season. He finished with the worst Total QBR in the NFL (40.1) among 33 qualified players, throwing 11 interceptions and just nine touchdowns.

The Jets could look at a fresh start in the draft, with Wilson emerging as a top option.