The New York Jets had an up-and-down 2022 season. The team started 6-3 and looked like a playoff team early before quarterback play, and injuries doomed their season. The team lost eight of its last 10 games, including the final six in a row to drop out of the NFL playoffs. However, they still had solid players all over the field, including the presumptive offensive and defensive Rookies of the Year in wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner. Now the Jets' offseason just needs to include a few fixes, and the team can make the postseason in 2023. Here are what those major fixes look like in terms of the draft, Jets free agents, and one blockbuster trade for Aaron Rodgers.
3. Keep the defensive line intact
In 2022, the Jets had the No. 4 scoring defense in the NFL. Much of that was due to the incredible defensive line. Now, the Jets’ offseason challenge become keeping the strength of their team intact next year.
Superstar defensive tackle Quinnen Williams is the key to the whole thing. He finished the year with 12.0 sacks and is already one of the best players in the league at his position, even though he’s just 25 years old.
Williams heads into 2023 on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, so it would be smart of New York to give him a massive extension this summer. He likely won’t quite get the $31 million annual average value that Aaron Donald, the highest-paid DT in the league, makes but the high $20 million range is about right.
Sheldon Rankins is a Jets free agent this summer, and the team plans to bring him back, too. That deal will likely be in the $7-$9 million range.
To offer these contracts, the Jets' offseason will involve a lot of contract restructuring. Depending on what else happens (more on that below), that might be enough. However, if the team needs to trim a lot of salaries, Carl Lawson could be a cap casualty, as cutting him will save $15 million.
2. Draft offensive line help
The Jets currently have the No. 13 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and if they make that pick, taking offensive line help would be a good idea. There are several key Jets free agents from that unit — George Fant, Connor McGovern — Duane Brown will be 38 by next season, and Mekhi Becton simply can’t stay healthy.
At No. 13, the Jets could take Northwestern tackle Peter Skoronski or Ohio State tackle Paris Johnson Jr. However, there’s a good chance that pick will reside with another team, ultimately.
That means the Jets will have to use their later-round picks to bring in O-line reinforcements. The good news is there are plenty of mid- to late-round players, especially in the interior of the line, who could be available.
For example, to replace McGovern at center, the Jets could take one of two Big 10 centers. Both Luke Wypler from Ohio State and Olusegun Oluwatimi from Michigan are excellent candidates to be the next in line to take over from the great Jets centers like Kevin Mawae and Nick Mangold.
Wypler’s bigger and more athletic than Oluwatimi, so he would be the pick if the Jets have their choice between the two.
1. Trade for Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback
Offensive and defensive line moves are great for the Jets, but that’s not what will bring them to the NFL playoffs in the 2023 season. The major elephant in the room on this team that’s loaded with talent is the quarterback position.
There are plenty of options for the Jets at QB. They could draft a player or sign or trade for one of the midlevel QBs on the market this offseason, like Derek Carr or Jimmy Garoppolo. However, the best Jet's offseason plan is to swing big and trade for Aaron Rodgers.
Last season, the Green Bay Packers thought they had a solid offensive line, young promising weapons at the skill positions, and a championship-level defense that could take them to the NFL playoffs and beyond.
That simply wasn’t the case, and the team missed the postseason entirely. In 2023, though, the Jets are the team that has all those things Rodgers and the Packers hoped for last year.
Rodgers opens a two-year window at most for the Jets and will cost them at least this year’s first-round pick and maybe next. That’s OK, though, with how well the team has drafted recently.
In the end, if the Jets’ offseason includes Aaron Rodgers, the Super Bowl is a real possibility.
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