Rumors early Thursday indicated that the New York Jets were having "conversations" with former Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, but by the end of the day Thursday, Gang Green instead signed former Jaguars wide out Keelan Cole on a one-year $5.5 million deal.
Signing Cole doesn't necessarily mean that the Jets are out on the Schuster talks, but it does indicate that GM Joe Douglas is more than happy to go out and stock up on guys he deems were undervalued in free agency.
Unlike Schuster, Cole is a virtual unknown. He was an undrafted rookie out of Kentucky Wesleyan in 2017, and hauled in 42 balls for 748 yards and three touchdowns. After two disappointing seasons in 2018 and 2019, Cole showed some slight improvement catching 55 passes for 642 yards and five touchdowns.
Let's be honest he is no JuJu Smith Schuster from the standpoint of on-field production. Should/or/had the Jets come to terms with Schuster on a deal, it would have given the Jets a bonafied number 1 threat at wide receiver, and potentially reunited quarterback Sam Darnold with one of his favorite college targets.
Now the Jets appear steadfast on putting the number 1 Wide Receiver onus on Corey Davis, who showed great promise last year as the number two receiver behind A.J. Brown in Tennessee.
In short, the Jets still need help here.
Meanwhile, Gang Green did ink an offensive lineman. Not one of the top lineman in this year's free agent class -- all of those are gone now. The Jets agreed to terms on a one-year deal with guard Dan Feeney, formally of the LA Chargers. Feeney started all but one of the 57 games he's played in in his NFL career, mostly at guard. He can also play center. Feeney addresses a need, but he may not be the finishing piece that the Jets need on a line that was one of the worst in the NFL a year ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment