Gang Green Nation
Bringing your daily links to the NFL’s New York Jets
Good morning Gang Green Nation! New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey held a pre-draft press conference yesterday. Mixed in with a lot of nothing was an interesting nugget. The Jets intend to exercise the fifth year option on 2022 first round picks Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson. Wilson and Gardner seemed inevitable. Johnson, not so much. Johnson is coming off a serious injury, a ruptured achilles tendon that cost him nearly the entire 2024 NFL season. Now entering his fourth year in the NFL, Johnson has had one good year in 2023, one lost year in 2024, and one year as a backup in his rookie year in 2022. He has 10 sacks in 33 NFL games. This is still a player with something to prove, coming into a new defensive system and coming off a serious injury. Achilles tears are tricky injuries which often sap a player of some of his explosiveness. Edge defenders like Johnson depend on explosiveness to get to the quarterback. It might have been better to decline the option and let the 2025 season play out. If Johnson plays well and looks like a good fit in the new Jets defense, then by all means seek an extension. If he plays poorly and looks like a bad fit, you’re not on the hook for the guaranteed $13+ million in 2026 the fifth year option commits the Jets to.
Exercising the option seems premature with a player we can’t be sure will excel going forward, but the May 1 deadline brought things to a head before the Jets could be sure. Let’s hope this turns out to be a good call for the new Jets regime.
Here are your links to your New York Jets this glorious Tuesday in April:
Ethan Greenberg - Jets GM Darren Mougey Provides Peek Behind the Curtain Heading Into 2025 NFL Draft
Jack Bell - GM Darren Mougey Says Jets Will Exercise Fifth-Year Options on Trio of Players
NYJets.com - 2025 Jets Mock Draft 12.0 - The Athletic's Dane Brugler Selects Missouri OT Armand Membou for Jets
Nick - 2025 Projected UDFA Class Sizes | Over the Cap
Rich Cimini - Jets to pick up 3 options; sidestep questions on Rodgers' rant
ESPN - NFL fifth-year option tracker: 2022 first-round draft class
Andy Vasquez - Jets NFL Draft 2025: Experts see them leaning this way at No. 7, but is it still a toss-up?
Alex Smith - GM Darren Mougey: Jets anticipate picking up fifth-year options for Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson
Adam La Rose - Jets To Exercise Fifth-Year Options On Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson
Adam Schultz - New York Jets' Darren Mougey Offers Draft Scouting Report On Offensive Line
Adam Schultz - Should Jets Skip Drafting Lineman In Favor Of Pass-Catching Stud?
Adam Schultz - New York Jets Rumor Suggests 'Quick Fix' Coming In NFL Draft
Joe Simile - Jets Trade Breece Hall...
