The Jets were one of the league leaders in available cap space last offseason and they used that money to acquire a ton of big-name free agents.
During free agency last spring, the Jets spent $205.5 million on 12 players, including $119.6 million in guaranteed money. At the time, the Jets looked like they were upgrading their team, but some of those moves didn’t pan out in 2019. The top free agents the Jets signed last offseason included C.J. Mosley, Le’Veon Bell, Jamison Crowder, Ty Montgomery and Brian Poole.
Let’s take a look at how each of these five players fared in their first season with Gang Green.
C.J. Mosley
The Jets paid C.J. Mosley the largest contract ever for an inside linebacker (five-years, $85 million), but they didn’t get their money’s worth in the first year.
Mosley suited up for all of two games the entire season. He hit the ground running in Week 1 against the Bills with four total tackles, two pass defenses, an interception, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. However, Mosley pulled his groin halfway through the game and missed the next four games. He returned in Week 7 against the Patriots and managed to play the whole game, but didn’t look like himself.
The Jets ended up placing Mosley on injured reserve, which ended his season. He is having surgery on his groin and the hope is to have him back in time for the team’s offseason program. While the Jets can still get valuable play out of Mosley in the coming years, his first year was pretty much over before it ever started.
Le’Veon Bell
Le’Veon Bell was supposed to be the game-changing player that the Jets have craved for years, but it didn’t work out that way.
Bell had the worst season of his career, only rushing for 789 yards, averaging 3.2 yards per carry and running for three total touchdowns. He wasn’t utilized in the passing game, picking up only 461 receiving yards. It wasn’t all of Bell’s fault because of the offensive line he was working with. The offensive line was unable to create many holes for Bell this season. Despite that, it didn’t look like Bell had the same burst we were accustomed to seeing in Pittsburgh.
Even with the down season, Bell was a pro’s pro in the locker room. He always did what he was asked to do and never complained once about his role in the offense.
Jamison Crowder
Jamison Crowder proved to be everything the Jets were looking for and more.
Crowder had one of the best years of his career with 78 catches for 833 yards and six touchdowns. He was one of Sam Darnold’s favorite targets and the two found instant chemistry with each other. There were a few games where Crowder was non-existent in the offense, but overall he was consistent.
There was some concern when the Jets signed Crowder because of his injury history, but he played a full season for the third time in his career. He’ll continue to be a featured part of this offense next year after a strong first season.
Ty Montgomery
All throughout training camp, there was a lot of optimism on how the Jets were going to utilize Ty Montgomery in the offense. However, he was pretty much a non-factor all season long.
Montgomery only had 32 rushing attempts for the season for 103 yards. In the passing game he had 13 catches for 90 yards. Clearly, Adam Gase didn’t think he fit his offense, as Gase would turn more to Bilal Powell when Le’Veon Bell was on the bench.
Given everything that was said about Montgomery during training camp, the thought was that he was going to be in for a huge year. However, his first and possibly only year in New York wound up being a major disappointment.
Brian Poole
The Jets got Brian Poole for a bargain and he surpassed his expectations.
Poole was the Jets’ top cornerback this season in the slot. In 14 games, Poole had 48 total tackles, five pass defenses, one interception, one forced fumble, a safety and a touchdown. He was the only cornerback that could be trusted on a weekly basis.
Poole will be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason, but the Jets have to make it a priority to re-sign him. After his first season, he is well worth getting a raise in order to keep him around for a few more years.
