NFL Free Agency is underway and the new league year officially began on Wednesday. While many top free agents remain on the board, there has been a lot of action across the league. For the New York Jets, Joe Douglas, and company have used trades and free agency to try and build the roster back up for 2024.
Today, let’s look at all the moves the Jets have made so far on the offensive side of the football.
Looking at What the New York Jets Have Done on Offense via Free Agency
John Simpson
After a slow start to the afternoon on day one of free agency, Joe Douglas decided to work the night shift and made his first move improving the offensive line. At 10:43 PM EDT, Douglas struck a deal for Baltimore Ravens guard John Simpson to provide much-needed interior offensive line help. It is a two-year deal worth $12 million with $6 million guaranteed for the left guard.
Simpson entered the league as a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. He spent three seasons in Las Vegas before moving on to Baltimore for the 2023 campaign and will now reside in The Big Apple. Last season was one of Simpson’s best in his young career. In 2023, he started all 19 games at left guard playing a total of 1,118 snaps where he allowed just one sack. On top of this, Simpson’s average time to pressure was 3.32 seconds which ranked fifth longest among left guards last season.
Simpson’s ability to pass protect and be a mauler in the run game will be a welcome sight for New York. Another key is his consistent play time which the Jets struggled with last season rolling out 13 different combinations up front. The one concern for Simpson is his penalties where he committed 11 last season which ranked second most among guards in 2023. However, the good outweighs the bad by a large margin for Simpson especially when you consider where this offensive line is coming from.
Tyrod Taylor
It’s a year late but, as they say, better late than never. After a tumultuous 2023 season at quarterback for the New York Jets, Joe Douglas and company finally bring in a quality backup behind Aaron Rodgers. At 11:13 PM EDT on Monday, Douglas signed Tyrod Taylor to a two-year deal worth up to $18 million. After rolling out Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemian at quarterback last season, this is a major upgrade.
For Taylor, he has become familiar with New York and the AFC East. For the last two seasons, Taylor has been across the hall at MetLife Stadium with the New York Giants, and earlier in his career, he spent three seasons with the Buffalo Bills. In his career, Taylor has completed 61.7% of his passes for 12,135 yards, 65 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also holds a 28-28-1 record as a starter in his career.
This will be Taylor’s seventh NFL team and his age 35 and 36 seasons will be spent in New York. While some may have critiques for Taylor’s style of play and his strengths and weakness it’s safe to say he is miles better than what the Jets rolled out last season. Take a deep breath Jets fans you finally have a backup quarterback albeit a year late.
Morgan Moses
Jets Receive: Morgan Moses and a 4th-round pick (134th overall)
Ravens Receive: 4th-round pick (112th overall) and a 6th-round pick (218th overall)
Joe Douglas AKA Trader Joe was back at it again striking a trade for former Jet and current Raven Morgan Moses. Essentially in this deal, the Jets swapped fourth picks and only gave up a sixth for their new starting right tackle, which is great value. A deal like this will not only help New York on the field but it also opened up other avenues to spend big.
After being drafted in the third round in 2014, Moses has spent 10 seasons in the NFL and enters his eleventh. One of those seasons was with New York in 2021 where he was very productive and was one of Douglas’ best moves before letting him sign with the Ravens in the 2022 offseason. Since 2020, Moses has tallied an 84.6 PFF Grade and his 88.4 run grade ranks sixth among all tackles during that time. On top of this, he has started at least 14 games in nine straight seasons.
The potential for Moses and Alijah Vera-Tucker on the right side is sky-high. Moses and Vera-Tucker are both maulers in the run game with the ability to block downhill and into space. To put it simply, Breece Hall is going to have fun running behind these two bodies.
Tyron Smith
The New York Jets and Joe Douglas added another future Hall of Famer to their offense on Friday night. Tyron Smith will now be protecting Aaron Rodgers’ blindside for the 2024 season. Smith has spent his entire career in the spotlight with 13 seasons in Dallas and now in The Big Apple.
Entering his age 33 season, Smith has not shown any signs of slowing down and throughout his entire career, he has lived up to the expectations that were put on him when he was drafted ninth overall in 2011. Smith is a two-time First-Team All-Pro, three-time Second-Team All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the 2010s NFL All-Decade Team. On top of this, Smith has allowed just five sacks since 2018 and ranked fifth best among offensive tackles last season in pressure rate. It’s safe to say Smith will reside in Canton, Ohio when his playing days are over.
The one concern with Smith is injury history where he has played in just 33 games in the last four seasons and hasn’t played a full season since 2015. While this is a concern even if the Jets get 13-14 games out of Smith with quality depth behind him it will be fine. Smith has never missed a playoff game which ultimately is what matters most especially for a team that is all-in. Douglas and company now have options at pick ten which gets fans excited and it is a one-year deal worth up to $20 million with incentives.
Here is the Jets’ new-look offensive line:
LT: Tyron Smith
LG: John Simpson
C: Joe Tippmann
RG: Alijah Vera-Tucker
RT: Morgan Moses
Main Image:Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
