New York Jets add C.J. Mosley to the defense with massive deal
The New York Jets continue to collect pieces in free agency, adding C.J. Mosley to the defense after a bountiful day one harvest.
Clearly, New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan is working around the clock. He must have found a 24 hour Starbucks to get him his coffee all night. Just kidding.
After an active first day, have a look at the Jets latest move:
Sources: Former #Ravens LB CJ Mosley is expected to sign with the #Jets on a massive 5-year, $85M deal worth $51M guaranteed. That’s $17M per year. It took a lot to leave Baltimore. 💰💰💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2019
Can somebody say wow? OK I’ll do it, wow! Anthony Barr didn’t likely come cheap so the Jets just spent a bunch of money to upgrade their linebackers.
C.J. Mosley is a different guy than Barr, in that he is an inside linebacker that will not translate into a pass rusher here in New York.
Mosley is what you would call a tackling machine, averaging well over 100 tackles per season during his first five years in the NFL. With his worst season being 92 tackles, he has been invited to the Pro Bowl in four out of five years.
The Jets worked hard and won Mosley over with money on this one. His original intent had been to stay in Baltimore so they had to overcome that with a Godfather offer. In other words, they had to make him an offer that he couldn’t refuse.
Adding two linebackers likely spells the end of Darron Lee. He started to show some signs last year but never lived up to the potential expected of a player drafted in the first round. If he were as active on the field as he has been on Twitter, Jets fans would be much happier.
Lee may not have a very robust trade market, however. The rest of the league sees the same film as the Jets. Lee could be relegated to the bench as the Jets may not be able to move him. With this group of linebackers he is very likely to see a significant reduction in his snaps.
The Bell saga continues. dark. Next
Not for nothing, Mike Maccagnan has finally woken up and taken strides to make significant improvements to this team. Yes that is his job, but he hasn’t done much with it over the last couple of years, so that makes the work worth noticing.
Is guaranteeing $51 million a big number for an inside linebacker? Sure. But with his job likely on the line, Maccagnan is going to throw around the big bucks and he may overpay once in a while.
The Jets are better than they were yesterday. That’s a job well done.