Ranking the NY Jets’ options to replace Jermaine Johnson after his injury.
The NY Jets’ defense suffered a significant blow when it was revealed that Pro Bowl edge rusher Jermaine Johnson had torn his Achilles in the team’s Week 2 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
Suddenly a Jets defensive line that already looked thin on paper without the presence of Haason Reddick was now down their best edge defender. Replacing Johnson will be a near-impossible task for the Jets moving forward.
Still, with the team in an all-in season, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh will evaluate the options they have to decide what route is best to take. Do they search for external replacements? Do they turn to their internal options? Do they call up Reddick’s agent?
We did our best to rank the most appealing options the Jets have to replace Reddick from least to most appealing. Let’s start with the least appealing.
4. The NY Jets can turn to free agency
Perhaps the most obvious option the Jets could explore would be to take a look at potential replacements available on the free-agent market. It’s a worthy idea, but the options just aren’t there.
The most intriguing candidate for the Jets is probably veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who remains unsigned despite starting 13 games for the Chicago Bears in 2023. There’s a good reason for that.
Ngakoue was abysmal last season, earning a disgustingly low Pro Football Focus grade of 39.9 which ranked 114th out of 115 qualified edge defenders. He finished with just 4.5 sacks and a 29% missed tackle rate.
Other options include the likes of old friend Carl Lawson (currently on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad), old friend Shaq Lawson, old friend Henry Anderson, almost old friend Anthony Barr, and Tyus Bowser (on the Seattle Seahawks practice squad).
It’s slim pickings on the open market, which makes finding any sort of suitable replacement in free agency more of a fantasy than reality.
3. The NY Jets can roll with internal replacements
While the Jets’ defensive line has underperformed through two weeks, the organization remains high on a number of their current players. There’s a reason the Jets decided to keep 11 defensive linemen (if you include Reddick) coming out of training camp.
One action the Jets could take to replace Johnson is, well, inaction. They don’t have to do anything, in theory. The Jets could simply turn to their internal options and hope they have the depth to replace their best edge rusher.
Will McDonald is expected to take on a larger role moving forward, and if his performance in Week 2 is any indication, he’s ready for it. The Jets are still high on the likes of Takk McKinley, Braiden McGregor, and others despite their slow start to the season.
Robert Saleh raved about the Jets’ defensive line depth all summer. It’s very possible the team just sticks with what they have. That might be a better option than signing a washed-up free agent, but it’s not their best option.
2. The NY Jets can give in and extend Haason Reddick
Some might suggest that the Jets doing everything they can to get Haason Reddick in the building is their best course of action following Johnson’s injury. While that may be true, it’s more complicated than that.
It would not be a wise financial decision for the Jets to extend Reddick at the price point, reportedly $25-28 million per year, he’s seeking. That would, of course, solve their current problem, but it would create issues down the road.
If the Jets give Reddick the long-term extension he’s looking for, that would complicate the team’s attempts to retain some of their own homegrown talent. Extending Reddick might prevent the team from paying a player like Jermaine Johnson or even Breece Hall in the near future.
It’s simple to say “Just pay the man,” but the Jets have long-term ramifications to consider. That said, Joe Douglas might not even be around to deal with those long-term ramifications if the Jets don’t get Reddick to show up soon. Urgency is the enemy of prudence.
It’s also important to consider the fact that Reddick might no longer want to play for the Jets at this point. This is a short-term fix with long-term ramifications, but with the Jets trying to compete for a Super Bowl this season, it might be one of their best options.
1. The NY Jets can trade back for John Franklin-Myers
The Jets’ defensive line missteps this offseason have been put under a microscope with Reddick still missing and given the team’s struggles up front. No misstep has hurt them more than the baffling decision to trade away John Franklin-Myers for essentially nothing.
The Jets have tried to spin the Franklin-Myers trade as a move made necessary for cap purposes, but that just isn’t true. The team would have saved more cap space by restructuring his contract in the way his new team, the Denver Broncos did, instead of just trading him.
Franklin-Myers has publicly stated that he was willing to restructure his deal to stay with the Jets, but the team never even approached him about it. Now, they have an opportunity to right their prior wrongs.
Franklin-Myers is wasting away on a Broncos team that’s going nowhere this season. Why not call up Denver and see if they’d be willing to send the veteran defensive lineman back to New York? He’s sorely missed.
