Update on Three Jets Restricted Free Agents
National Football League teams wishing to tender their restricted free agents must do so prior to the start of the new league year or risk losing those players.
The New York Jets chose to keep defensive end Bryce Huff around, offering him a second-round tender that is worth $4.304 million.
Should another NFL team attempt to sign Huff to an offer sheet, the Jets could retain the defender by matching the offer. If Gang Green loses the restricted free agent, they’ll receive a second-round draft pick as compensation.
Huff was productive for the Jets during pass rush situations last season. He totaled 3.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits in 14 appearances as a reserve.
The edge rusher, who has spent the past three years with Gang Green, accounted for a 21.3 percent pressure rate in 2022 according to the NFL’s @NextGenStats.
In the Jets’ 20-17 win over AFC East champion Buffalo in Week 9, Huff made what was essentially a victory-clinching strip sack of Josh Allen. The late-game hit, which resulted in Allen’s throwing arm being bent awkwardly, pushed the Bills back into a fourth-and-forever situation while injuring their quarterback’s UCL.
DE Bryce Huff strips Bills QB Josh Allen
Chris Pedota / USA TODAY NETWORK
Huff originally joined the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Memphis in 2020. He earned a spot on the team’s initial 53-man roster that year.
The Jets chose to non-tender both wide receiver Jeff Smith and running back James Robinson.
Smith subsequently agreed to terms with the New York Giants on a one-year deal worth $1.2 million. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots inked Robinson to a two-year contract for up to $8 million according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The 6-foot-1 Smith, who originally signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2019, saw action in 11 games last season. He made eight receptions for 134 yards.
The depth receiver, who saw most of his action on special teams, played in 36 games and totaled 34 receptions as a Jet.
One can classify Robinson’s short Gang Green tenure as a failed in-season experiment by the front office. The Jets acquired Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars via trade in response to running back Breece Hall’s season-ending injury.
At the time, the move looked attractive considering Robinson had averaged 4.55 yards per carry and scored 18 touchdowns over his first two NFL seasons (28 games).
Not seemingly recovered from the Achilles injury that ended his 2021 season in Week 16, Robinson totaled a combined 425 rush yards on 110 attempts while spending the 2022 campaign in Jacksonville and New York.
The Jets sent a 2023 conditional sixth-round draft pick to the Jaguars for Robinson. The selection would have been upgraded to the fifth round had Robinson rushed for at least 260 yards in his new home, but the seemingly-disgruntled running back gained only 85 yards rushing in four games.
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