2012 NFL Free Agency: New York Jets Weighing their Options at Outside Linebacker
While the New York Jets are weighing all of their options with highly paid inside linebacker Bart Scott, the team is also keeping an eye out on the outside linebacker market.
This week, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that the Jets are interested in Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson (above) to potentially upgrade their run defense.
The 30-year-old Johnson has played his entire nine-year career in Baltimore, and he played his first six NFL seasons under Rex Ryan, before Ryan’s departure in 2009, when he accepted the Jets head coaching job.
“I’ll tell you a guy that’s underrated is Jarret Johnson,” Ryan said last September. “He’s tougher than heck, and he’s a lot more talented than people give him credit for.”
Indeed, the talented linebacker only had four total sacks over the past two seasons, but has emerged as one of the best run-stuffers in the league.
Pro Football Focus graded Johnson as the second-ranked 4-3 OLB in 2011, with only Denver Broncos rookie sensation Von Miller eclipsing him. Johnson was the fifth overall rated OLB by PFF’s grades.
Like Bart Scott, Jarret Johnson is often doing the dirty work, setting the edge and making plays for his teammates rather than put up gaudy numbers. Johnson will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
The Ravens have played both 3-4 and 4-3 base defenses over the years, and Ryan could certainly plug in Johnson into any defensive front he’s needed in.
For the past few seasons, the Jets have used Bryan Thomas in that role, the primary edge-setter in the running game that Johnson plays so well.
In my defensive free agent preview for the Jets last week, I predicted that Thomas is unlikely to return for his 10th season in New York, especially after rupturing his Achilles tendon last October, coincidentally in Baltimore.
However, sources have told Brian Costello of the New York Post that the Jets might in fact be interested in bringing the longtime Jet back for another season, if the price is right.
The Jets are right up against the salary cap at the moment, and their biggest offseason priority is restricted free agent Sione Pouha, who’s been one of the lynchpins of their defense the past three seasons.
As the team weighs their options at outside linebacker, they’ll have to factor in the cost. If they want Thomas back, it’s reasonable that he can be had at the veteran’s minimum. But that remains to be seen.
If Thomas is healthy, he can probably still set the edge, but Jarret Johnson is a major upgrade. He excels at it. It’s his bread-and-butter. But the question remains, how much money can Johnson command on the open market?
With the salary cap in place, it’s never as simple as signing the best guy available, and that’s why guys like Mike Tannenbaum get paid a lot of money to figure out who are the best fits for the Jets going forward.
I would love to see Johnson become the latest Raven to join Rex Ryan here in New York with the Jets. He would present a big upgrade, and it would allow Calvin Pace to return to more of a pass rushing role in 2012.
Pace’s contributions in 2011 should not be ignored. He was an unsung hero, taking up Thomas’s role after he went down, and he did a very good job, sacrificing personal stats for team success in run defense.
I expect the Jets to upgrade the pass rush as well, likely through the draft, but having an edge-setter in place will also help Calvin Pace make more of an impact against the pass. Everything affects everything in football.
We are less than two weeks from the start of free agency. Buckle your seat belts, Jets fans.
Follow me on Twitter @metsjetsnets88 / Contact me at
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signing thomas AND johnson u might make a realistic jets dream come true
I’d love to see it. If the Jets can find a way to pull it off I would be thrilled.