New York Jets Rumors: Can Eric Decker Help Recruit Free Agents?
By Nick Ziegler
The latest New York Jets rumors are that wide receiver Eric Decker is actively trying to recruit his former teammate Demaryius Thomas to play alongside him once again.
Decker and Thomas were a dynamic duo in 2013 with the Denver Broncos, and Decker would like for the two to reunite in New York.
“I’ve been pushing for the entire year now,” Decker said in a telephone interview with The Post. “It was just another opportunity to talk to him about it. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I think it would be tough for Denver to let him go. So whether they franchise-tag him here in the next month or give him a long-term deal, he’s just one of those premier players in this league. If he happens to make it to free agency, I would love to sign him because playing alongside him for four years and especially the last two years made it a lot of fun and made it a lot easier. He’s just one of the great players in this league.”
In the 2013 season, Decker played great with the Broncos, catching 87 passes for 1,288 yards with 11 TD. Those numbers made Decker the best WR available in free agency last season, and he cashed in with a long-term deal from the Jets. Decker’s first season with the Jets was foreseeably less than those numbers, as he didn’t have Peyton Manning throwing him the football anymore, and the Jets’ offense isn’t built to move the ball like the Broncos’ offense could.
Despite poor QB-play from Geno Smith and Michael Vick, Decker was able to put together a pretty decent season even with a nagging hamstring injury that cost him to miss one full game, and limited him in others. In his first season with the Jets, Decker caught 74 passes for 962 yards with five TD, which are certainly respectable numbers.
“It was tough,” Decker said of his first season with the Jets. “There was a lot of ups and downs. Ultimately, I kind of learned a lot about myself just going through all that. For me, it was just disappointing in myself. I really felt like the hamstring and the leg issue held me back early on and kind of slowed my development with the offense down.
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Without Decker in 2014, Thomas would put up another monster season with Manning, as the talented fifth-year pro from Georgia Tech put together a great season. Thomas caught 111 passes for 1,619 yards with 11 TD. Those kind of numbers will bring Thomas a massive pay day, but there is a good possibility that the Broncos will look to franchise-tag their stud WR and workout a long-term deal.
Thomas and Decker have a great relationship which can only help the Jets’ chances of signing Thomas if he becomes available as a free agent in March. A reunion of Decker and Thomas would instantly make them one of the best WR duos in the league once again, but the Jets still sadly don’t know who their QB of the future is.