Jordan Jenkins, New York Jets reportedly have a new deal
After a first week of free agency dominated by the offense and particularly the offensive line, the New York Jets have gotten downright busy addressing needs on their defense. General manager Joe Douglas re-signed linebacker Jordan Jenkins on Monday evening.
The signing of Jenkins was made public just shortly after the team completed the re-signing of linebacker James Burgess. The news about Burgess was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter via agent Drew Rosenhaus.
As for Jenkins, the deal between the linebacker and the Jets was first reported on Monday by Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. In the early evening, ESPN's Rich Cimini wrote that the Jets had completed the deal.
In 2019, Jenkins had a career-low 32 tackles in 14 games (13 starts) but had a career-highs in sacks (8) and tackles for a loss (9). He led the team in sacks and was second in tackles for a loss.
The move to keep Jenkins seems to be following the Douglas doctrine of signing players to a one-year contract in order to state their case for a longer-term contract. Jenkins has seen his sack production grow over his four years in the league, all with the Jets.
He was selected in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Jenkins return is a boost to a Jets defense that was surprisingly solid last year as they battled through a number of injuries to key players. In addition, the offense didn’t help the defense much during the first half of the season, constantly giving the unit a short field to defend.
In Jenkins, the Jets are keeping a solid pass rusher who figures to see an increased role in 2020.
