The New York Jets made headlines this past week with the announcement that veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers would not return to the team in 2025.
Rodgers will leave the organization after winning five games over two years. Consequently, this opened up a big question for the Jets organization: Who will be the team’s starting quarterback going forward?
They could go in a few different directions. They could trade for or sign a veteran QB, they could draft a rookie signal caller, or they could do both. No matter what they do, they need to address it quickly over the next couple months.
Newly-hired general manager Darren Mougey has a lot to consider.
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. presented an outside-the-box option for the Jets, speaking about the possibility of the team trading up to take a QB early in April’s NFL Draft. His scenario has the Jets moving up from their seventh overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ fifth overall pick to select Shadeur Sanders out of Colorado. The trade would leapfrog the QB-needy Las Vegas Raiders who own the sixth spot.
Sanders started his career with two years at Jackson State College, an FCS program. He transferred to the University of Colorado and played under his father, head coach Deion Sanders, for his final two college years.
His 2024 season was his best yet. He completed 74% of his passes for 4,134 yards, and threw 37 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Here is the clip of Kiper Jr. breaking down why the move up for Sanders makes sense for a Jets team looking for direction:
Well that would spice things up…@MelKiperESPN openly talked to @FieldYates about the possibility of the #Jets leapfrogging the #Raiders in a draft day trade with the #Jaguars at pick No. 5 overall to swipe Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders if he is still on the board.
‘You are… pic.twitter.com/8JNNndcPuk
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 15, 2025
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Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets are no more.
From Rodgers’ standpoint, reports are conflicting on how he felt about the split.
The immediate news on the 41-year-old departing was that the Jets wanted a fresh start with new head coach Aaron Glenn and he wanted a clean slate. That’s not being debated because… it makes sense.
In terms of Rodgers, his reported feelings have been conflicting updates.
The New York Post first reported that Rodgers “pleaded” to stay in New York:
Now there is some debate there thanks to The Athletic.
During an appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show,” NFL insider Dianna Russini noted that was not the case according to her knowledge. She said Rodgers wanted out and he was not doing any pleading:
With the nature of Rodgers, we’ll likely never know the answer. He could respond to a question about the split one day, but in his usual interesting manner that might not answer much.
Russini’s full update can be found in the clip below:
@DMRussini
What really went down between @AaronRodgers12 and the @nyjets? And did @TheAthleticNFL insider drop a breadcrumb about a possible home for the future Hall of Famer?#NFL #NFLCombine #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/aJkHl1MDwk
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) February 19, 2025
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There is plenty to unfold for the New York Jets before the 2025 NFL draft rolls around but Tyler Warren might be a name to keep in mind.
During a segment on ESPN, the No. 7 overall selection held by New York was a topic of discussion.
That pick can go a lot of different ways and Warren’s name was brought up.
The roundtable discussion connected the Penn State tight end as a potential target for the Jets. During that, comparisons were made to the Las Vegas Raiders’ Brock Bowers, who just completed one of the best rookie seasons for a tight end.
Viewed as an all-around tight end, Warren had 104 catches for 1,233 yards with eight touchdowns during a breakout 2024 season.
The full breakdown on Warren and the Jets can be found below:
A lot of buzz around the #Jets & Penn State TE Tyler Warren
How would you feel if the Jets drafted him at #7 ? #JetUp pic.twitter.com/lNEcgFFei7
— 𝙅𝙀𝙏𝙎 𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙄𝘼(@NYJets_Media) February 14, 2025
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The 2024 NFL season for New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner was not his best.
Even so, when your bar is set so high, you still end up among the top-tier… at least that’s how Pro Football Focus sees it.
The football analytics outlet has named their top-101 players from last season. Gardner was one of the first to appear, slotting in at No. 99 overall:
Top 101 NFL players from the 2024 season:
#99: CB Sauce Gardner
25.5% forced incompletion rate (1st) pic.twitter.com/K0mZReoKc9
— PFF (@PFF) February 17, 2025
Entering his third year in the pros, Gardner was expected to be elite but fell a bit short of that. As the season rolled on, the 24-year-old improved.
In PFF’s same ranking a year ago, Gardner was at No. 33 overall so he did drop. The full context of Gardner having a “bad” campaign, and still earning at top-101 spot, is still impressive.
PFF’s final overall grade for Gardner last year was 70.2 overall. That slotted him in as the 32nd best cornerback in the NFL via their metrics out of 116 qualifying players.
In 15 games played, Gardner had one interception, nine passes defended, a sack, with 49 tackles including one for loss.
PFF’s full breakdown on Gardner can be found below:
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The new league year in the NFL begins on March 10 when free agents can take visits from teams and discuss contracts.
The New York Jets currently have approximately $20 million in salary cap space, a number that is certain to go up once the team makes cuts to the roster.
It will be interesting to see how new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey will approach free agency. Will they strike fast on the first day or wait for the smoke to clear and do their shopping on day two? And are there any of the Jets own free agents they want to bring back next season and beyond?
Jets Wire will take a look at each of the team’s free agents and determine if they should return next season or let them move on to somewhere else. For our next free-agent profile, we look at an under utilized weapon on the offense, tight end Tyler Conklin.
Conklin signed a three-year, $21 million contract during the 2022 offseason, a day after the Jets signed another tight end to a similar deal, former Bengals tight end CJ Uzomah. Conklin was coming off his best season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2021 where he had 61 receptions for 593 yards and three touchdowns. The Jets envisioned Conklin and Uzomah serving as a two-headed monster at the position to help quarterback Zach Wilson.
While Uzomah struggled during his first year in New York, Conklin thrived putting up similar numbers to his 2021 season. He finished with 58 receptions for 552 yards and three touchdowns. Conklin’s numbers slightly improved in 2023 with 61 receptions for 621 yards, but he did not have a touchdown.
Uzomah was released before the start of the 2024 season which made Conklin the top tight end on the roster. Most writers predicted he would have a great year with a healthy Aaron Rodgers under center and how AR loved throwing to the tight end.
But, Conklin’s numbers dropped a little as he finished with 51 receptions for 449 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with an overall PFF grade of 58.8, which ranked him 34th out of 37 tight ends in the league. His PFF receiving grade was 61.4, which also ranked him towards the bottom of the league (33rd out of 37).
Should the Jets Bring Him Back in 2025?
Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Verdict: Yes.
If new offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand is bringing Detroit’s style of a passing attack to the Jets, then Conklin is exactly the tight end I’d like to see in that offense next season. The Lions turned Sam LaPorta into one of the top tight ends in the league and a dangerous weapon each week. With Adams and Allen Lazard most likely gone to free up additional cap space, Conklin could potentially carve out a bigger role as a pass catcher if Glenn and Engstrand view him in the same regard as LaPorta.
Conklin’s numbers for all three seasons in New York were basically the same and even though 2024 was disappointing for him, it wasn’t entirely his fault. The offense focused more around Garrett Wilson, Adams and Breece Hall, which cut into Conklin’s targets. Rodgers struggled plenty of times as well in his first season back from his torn achilles tendon injury, which was also a factor for Conklin’s production.
The Jets tight end depth chart is very weak heading into the start of free agency. The only player currently under contract is Jeremy Ruckert and he could be a cap casualty due to poor play. They could bring back Kenny Yeboah to take on a bigger role outside of special teams. They could also look to the NFL Draft where Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland are the top two players at the position.
The Jets have not featured the tight end in their offensive schemes since the days of Dustin Keller. That could change under this new coaching staff. Conklin is still a solid offensive player and an excellent security blanket for the next Jets quarterback. They should strongly consider bringing Tyler Conklin back next season.
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