Free agency – much like the draft – is a crapshoot.
You can scout players all you want, but there’s no telling if they’ll ever live up to the contracts they receive when they hit the open market. For the most part, teams will overpay to land a player who outperformed his contract the year before, only to watch him crash and burn the following season. The Jets experience this on an almost yearly basis and Joe Douglas can’t let it happen again.
The big names will always command the most money, but there are plenty of diamonds in the rough that can stand out and contribute for less. No one wanted to give Brian Poole a big deal in 2019 and he ended up being the best slot corner in the NFL for the Jets. Douglas needs to find those players if he wants to fill all the holes on his roster.
With that in minf, here are four under the radar free agents for the Jets to target.
(Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
WR Breshad Perriman
The Jets are in the market to upgrade their wide receiving corp and Perriman would be a cheap solution if they can’t keep Robby Anderson. Perriman enjoyed a late-season resurgence with the Buccaneers after three years of holding the bust moniker and actually looked like he could become a viable wide receiver in the league. He led the NFL with an average depth of target of 18.8 yards and only dropped one of his 65 targets.
Perriman is roughly the same height as Anderson but a little bigger-bodied and could provide a dual ability as a speedster and red zone target for Sam Darnold and the Jets. He’d also command significantly less money than a lot of the other receivers on the market. If the Jets want to save their money or pool their resources for a different player, signing Perriman could help them in a lot of different ways.
DE Vinny Curry
Curry is a perfect blend of skill and price for the Jets. Not only does Curry have the Eagles connection with Douglas, but he’s also coming off his best season since 2014. Curry tallied five sacks, 27 total tackles and 12 quarterbacks hits in 2019 as a rotational edge rusher and his 16.8 pressure rate tied for fifth among edge rushers with at least 200 pass-rushing snaps.
It wouldn’t take much for Douglas and the Jets to land Curry despite the 31-year-old’s desire to return to Philadelphia. Gregg Williams could use a player of Curry’s skillset on defense and the cost to bring him in would allow Douglas to spend more on other positions of need.
OL Stefen Wisniewski
This would be very similar to the Alex Lewis trade last offseason. Wisniewski is another former Douglas player – having spent three seasons with the Eagles from 2016-2018 – and would be a solid depth player for the Jets to use at multiple positions along the offensive line.
The Jets should stockpile offensive linemen – both in free agency and the draft – after a season that saw them turn over linemen weekly. Wisniewski may not be a starting-caliber player, but he is a quality blocker who could step in a pinch at a relatively cheap price.
RB Chris Thompson
Le’Veon Bell is the Jets bell cow, but they need a reliable pass-catching option to spell Bell’s usage. That’s where Thompson comes in. The veteran makes his hay as a pass-catching specialist out of the backfield and he’d be a tremendous complement to Bell.
Thompson had at least 70 total touches over the past five seasons, including two 100-plus touch seasons from 2016-17. Injuries have plagued the 29-year-old over recently but he’s still playing at a high level when called upon.
