What led to this?

It looks like the Jets are about to lose defensive end Bryce Huff, who led them in sacks last year with 10.

“Bryce Huff, defensive lineman from the Jets, hot commodity in the market, I know there is a team that has offered him a fairly substantial amount of money, and I think he’s going to go to that team,” former NFL GM Mike Lombardi said on VSIN today. “I don’t want to accuse the team of tampering, so I won’t say (which team it is).”

Some might wonder how this is possible since free agency has started.

Let’s put it this way, there is a lot of tampering in Indianapolis at the combine, which is like an NFL convention with so many decision-makers in town, including a lot of GMs and agents in town. So there is a lot of watercooler talk in Indy.

How did the Jets get to the point where they are likely going to lose Huff?

Well, first of all, they picked defensive ends in the first round of the last two drafts, Jermaine Johnson (2022) and Will McDonald (2023).

They also paid end John Franklin-Myers big bucks a couple of years ago.

Another issue is that they are paying an inside linebacker C.J. Mosley $17 million a year and for some reason haven’t forced him to take a pay cut.

That is not a good number for an older linebacker with limitations in coverage, but Mosley is treated with great reverence by the Jets and the media.

Yes, he’s a good leader, but you can go out and get a guy for $4-5 million in free agency to do what he does on the field. That isn’t a shot, but a fact.

The Aaron Rodgers contract probably also impacts the Huff decision.

Now if the Jets had not picked McDonald in the first round last year, perhaps they would have been more inclined to break the bank with Huff.

But when you pick defensive ends in the first round, you are picking them to start.

So this begs the question why did they pick McDonald last year, knowing they would have to pay Huff in 2024?

Well, some would argue that they were prepared to pick an offensive tackle at 15 last year, but the guys they wanted were all gone, so they stuck to their board and picked McDonald.

But in retrospect, you could argue, there was a better option that would have filled a bigger need than defensive end, and that would have been picking defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, who would have helped their substandard interior run defense.

Bresee, picked by the New Orleans Saints in the first round (29), looks like a good one. A former five-star recruit for Clemson, is a very talented interior player. There were some injury concerns that made him slip a little.

None of this is meant to demean McDonald, who was quiet as a rookie, but could turn out to be a very good player. He must get bigger and stronger this off-season, which he should be able to do in his first NFL off-season program.

But barring a major upset, it looks like Jets could very well lose Huff.

March 5, 2024

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