Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Jets: Signing Buster Skrine upgrades secondary

By Nick Ziegler

facebooktwitterreddit

Going into this offseason, the New York Jets had to be active in free agency with signing a cornerback, and on Tuesday they upgraded their secondary a lot from 2014. Shortly before the New York Jets were able to sign cornerback Darrelle Revis to a record deal, they were able to land his soon-to-be sidekick in the secondary.

The Jets were able to lure cornerback Buster Skrine to join the team after playing for the Cleveland Browns for the past four seasons. Skrine has signed a four-year $25 million deal with $13 million guaranteed to join the Jets. Skrine was a fifth-round pick by the Browns in 2011, and has developed into a good cornerback since being selected in the late-rounds.

In his career so far, Skrine has played in 64 games, and has totaled six interceptions, 196 tackles, one sack, and one fumble recovery. Despite being less than 190lbs, Skrine is not afraid to mix it up when it comes to tackling, which is always a good quality in a cornerback.

Last season was Skrine’s best, as he had four interceptions while part of a good Browns defense. The biggest knock on Skrine is that he is not a stranger to drawing some flags. Last season, Skrine was flagged for 15 penalties, seven of which were for pass interference, as only one player in the NFL was flagged for more pass interferences.

More from New York Jets

New general manager Mike Maccagnan knew that he had to sign some cornerbacks in free agency, and so far so good. Last season was a colossal failure by John Idzik to not add a good cornerback in a deep free agency at the position, and Maccagnan is not making that mistake.

By adding Skrine to go along with Darrelle Revis, the Jets’ secondary is already massively improved from last season. The possibility of the Jets bringing back Antonio Cromartie, who played last season for Todd Bowles, could also still happen. The Jets can’t have any expectations for cornerback Dee Milliner, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Milliner has been a bust so far for the Jets, as he can’t stay healthy enough to even judge whether or not he can be a good cornerback in the NFL. With the uncertainty about Milliner, it’s very smart that the Jets are tackling free agency like he isn’t on the team

It’s a really good sign for Jets fans to see the new regime being active in free agency, and trying to eliminate as many question marks as possible before the season starts, as it feels like a breath of fresh air in New York.

Next: Who was the best first-round pick in Jets history?

More from Empire Writes Back

Home/New York Jets