Before Joe Douglas can focus on who he plans to target in free agency come March, he’ll have a handful of in-house decisions to make.
The Jets have 32 players set to hit the open market this offseason. Some don’t figure to factor into New York’s plans for 2020, while it’s safe to assume the Jets would like to keep others around for a while. Either way, Douglas has a lot of work to do in his first offseason on the job.
Arthur Maulet bounced from New York’s active roster to the practice squad throughout the first half of the regular season. Once he settled in as a permanent member of Gang Green’s 53-man roster in late October, the 5-foot-10 cornerback performed well enough to warrant starting duties down the stretch. Was Maulet’s strong second half enough to warrant a return in 2020? Let’s evaluate in the situation in Jets Wire’s latest free agent profile.
Pros of keeping him
For a three-week stretch in November, Maulet teamed up with Bless Austin to form a formidable cornerback duo, one New York lacked throughout much of 2019.
Maulet’s not the biggest corner, but he has impressive range and solid ball skills. The Jets wouldn’t be keeping him with designs on inserting him into the starting lineup on a permanent basis, but Maulet could serve as a key depth piece for a unit that is lacking in that area.
Cons of keeping him
Maulet played well enough in the second half of 2019, but his sample size is extremely small and tough to evaluate. Other than his three-week stretch of standout play, how good was he really?
Maulet’s size also working against him more often than not. He isn’t a true nickel cornerback and is usually faced with a mismatch against bigger receivers on the outside. That’s far from ideal and could be a reason why Douglas lets the 26-year-old walk in free agency.
The verdict
Maulet is your typical solid backup cornerback. He can perform well in a pinch and typically gets the job done in a minimal role. Is he a player the Jets can start for 16 games? Probably not, but he contributes in sub-packages that play to his strengths. That leads us to believe Douglas will opt to re-sign him at a relatively cheap rate this offseason.
