The New York Jets are busy interviewing for the leadership team of tomorrow and one of the first obstacles to navigate for the new GM will be free agency, which kicks off with the start of the new league year in March. 

The Jets have been big players in free agency recently, but before we get to the players they could bring in from other teams, we need to decide on those currently rostered. 

As things stand, the Jets have 20 different players heading to free agency. 16 of those players are unrestricted free agents and 4 are restricted free agents. 

Unrestricted free agents will have four or more years of NFL service and once free agency hits, they’re open to negotiate with any and every team. If they decide to sign with another team, they’re not obligated to give the Jets a chance to match the offer and the Jets won’t receive any compensation in return. 

Restricted free agents will have three accrued NFL seasons and while they can negotiate with any team and sign with any team, the Jets will be given an opportunity to match the offer. If the Jets decide to match the offer, then the player is obligated to remain with the team. If the player leaves, then the Jets would receive compensation based on the tender they tag the player with.

Those are very simplistic terms, but without going into the specifics of each tender it’s a good starting point to understand the situation we’re in. 

Restricted Free Agents

Chazz Surratt, Irvin Charles, Xavier Newman-Johnson, Tony Adams

With restricted free agents, there is always a good chance that they all return to the team. I think that’s likely going to be the case here. 

Chazz Surratt and Irvin Charles were two of the best special teams performers for the Jets in 2024 with 7 and 5 tackles respectively. Charles was graded by PFF to be the best special teams player on the team and his 88.6 grade put him inside the top-10 for the season across the league (minimum of 150 special team snaps). 

Charles unfortunately sustained a torn ACL against the Miami Dolphins in week 14 and the Jets will be hoping his recovery puts him on track for the 2025 season. 

Xavier Newman-Johnson only played a handful of snaps this year but showcased his versatility in 2023 when he appeared at three different positions along the offensive line and Tony Adams played in over 750 snaps this season and made 84 tackles with 1 interception. 

Adams and Charles need to be protected with tenders, but I think all four will return. 

Unrestricted Free Agents

Haason Reddick, D.J. Reed, Tyler Conklin, Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, Javon Kinlaw, Solomon Thomas, Ashtyn Davis, Wes Schweitzer, Leki Fotu, Isaiah Oliver, Chuck Clark, Kenny Yeboah, Malik Taylor, Jamien Sherwood, Brandin Echols.

As you can see from the extensive list of players, there’s likely going to be a lot of change in that locker room at One Jets Drive. 

There is an argument that can be made for each player, whether that’s past performance, future potential or just seeing what someone can do who wasn’t able to perform this year due to injury or any number of other reasons. 

To work through all these individual players would take some time, so I’m going to pick out three names that I think the new GM should prioritise. 

Morgan Moses

There’s a reason the Jets players chose Morgan Moses for the “Most Inspirational” gong in the end-of-season awards, very few players command the level of respect that Morgan does.

It was a difficult season in many ways for Moses who played through injuries and was forced to miss multiple contests. The 723 offensive snaps played was his lowest total since his rookie year with Washignton back in 2014. 

But when he was on the field he was a reliable pass-protector and effective run-blocker. At 33 he still has plenty left in the tank and I feel his experience will be vital in 2025. 

The Jets are likely to field a starting offensive line that includes 22-year-old Olu Fashanu, 27-year-old John Simpson, 23-year-old Joe Tipmann and 25-year-old Alijah Vera-Tucker. Having a fully healthy Morgan Moses to support that room would be a big benefit. 

D.J Reed 

Reed has said that he’s looking forward to experiencing free agency to see how teams see him. Considering what he’s put on tape over the last few years, you have to imagine the answer to that question is “very favourably”. 

D.J has spent three good years in New York forming one of the most dominant cornerback trios alongside Sauce Gardner and Michael Carter II. He’s coming off a year where he allowed just 58.3% of passes to be completed into his coverage and 7 passes defensed. 

His effort level could never be questioned and that was evident against Miami in the final week of the season where he ran close to the length of the field to make a TD saving tackle. It epitomises the kind of effort and competitiveness that Reed brings to the table, and those guys are players you want to go to war with. 

It may be that the Jets get outbid for Reed, as unfortunately the reality of the NFL salary cap means you can’t pay everyone as much as you’d love to. 

Jamien Sherwood

Sherwood was finally given an opportunity to play consistently in 2024 under unfortunate circumstances (injury to captain C.J Mosley), but he rewarded the Jets patience with an outstanding season, one to be proud of as a first-time starter. 

Before this season Jamien had played just 357 defensive snaps across three years as he transitioned from safety to linebacker and say behind Mosley to learn how to be a leader and general on the defensive side of the ball. 

This season Sherwood played 1,063 defensive snaps and led the team with 158 tackles which included 98 individual tackles, 2 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 10 tackles for a loss. 

That was in his first year as a starter, imagine what he could do in year two. Think to the improvement we saw with Quincy Williams. To me Sherwood should be the priority signing of the off-season for the Jets.