While Adam Gase is “fired up” to have Ryan Kalil aboard, the Jets new center will not practice on Saturday. Instead, Gang Green will bring Kalil, 34, along slowly.
New York will have to be cautious with its newest addition to the offensive line. Since 2016, Kalil has suffered some debilitating injuries to his shoulder and neck. After signing a two-year contract extension with the Carolina Panthers back in 2016, Kalil was sure that 2018 would be his last season.
A move seven weeks in the making, the Jets were able to pry Kalil out of retirement. What the Jets were offering was seemingly too good for Kalil to pass up. Not only does Kalil get an opportunity to play with a quarterback in Sam Darnold that he is a big fan of and respects, but a one-year, $8.4 million deal was too rich to pass up.
While the Jets were previously appeared content with de facto starter Jonotthan Harrison starting at center, Kalil immediately slides into that spot. Being a veteran, missing some time won’t hamper Kalil, but conditioning will be a factor after he spent the entire offseason at home. Kalil had been retired for over seven months now might not exactly be in football shape.
Coming out of retirement, Kalil will need to do some extra work in the classroom to get him up to speed with Gase’s offense. Kalil will be integral for Darnold’s development on and off the field in year two. That said, he needs to be up to speed with the offense and protections, ready to go and in shape by Week 1.
