With the Jets sorely in need of a starting center, one would have thought Mike Maccagnan would offer two of the best free agents available.
Matt Paradis or Mitch Morse would have been massive upgrades for an offensive line that needs someone in front of Sam Darnold, but neither received a contract proposal from Gang Green, according to The Daily News’ Manish Mehta. Paradis signed a three-year deal with the Panthers worth $27.03 million and $13.5 million in guarantees, while Morse joined the rival Bills on a four-year pact worth $44.5 million and $26.5 million in guarantees.
While the Jets were busy adding other top free agents such as Le’Veon Bell and C.J. Mosley, it’s a little surprising they didn’t make offers to two players at a position of serious need.
Mehta added that the Jets were concerned about Paradis’ health after his 2018 season ended with a broken fibula, but this is a center that had started 57 straight games before the injury. Morse, meanwhile, is just 26 and could have been a wall for Darnold for the foreseeable future.
The Jets have been looking for a reliable center since Nick Mangold was let go. Wesley Johnson was a disaster in 2017 and Spencer Long was hardly an improvement a season ago. After years of stability behind Mangold and, before him, Kevin Mawae, it would stand to reason that the Jets missed the days of such sturdiness at the position.
Instead, they let the two best centers on the market sign elsewhere without even making an offer.
