Jets $59 Million Star Predicted To Defect To AFC-Rival Bengals In Free Agency

Is Cincinnati the most logical threat to land this ex-Jets standout?

Nov 17, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; A Cincinnati Bengals Riddell Speedflex helmet on the field at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the New York Jets prepare for the 2025 season, they're likely to find themselves without one star from their 2024 secondary.

The NFL's "legal tampering" period begins Monday, which means free agents are allowed to negotiate with all 32 teams, even though they can't officially sign contracts with new teams until Wednesday, when the new league calendar year begins.

Cornerback D.J. Reed, though, seems to have been planning his exit for quite some time. After three years in New York, he told Tyler Dunne of Go Long after the Jets' season finale that he was ready to see what else awaited him in free agency.

Though Reed's comment at the time wasn't a declaration that he would play elsewhere, New York's $45 million extension for Jamien Sherwood sure seems like a strong indication that they intend to let the star cornerback walk.

Instead, Jarrett Bailey of USA Today predicted on Monday that Reed would sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, a team with a laundry list of defensive needs after missing the playoffs in 2024 despite having a top-10 offense by any metric.

"Good Odin’s Raven the Bengals’ secondary was bad in 2024. They allowed the fourth-most touchdown passes in the league and it was routinely bombs away for opposing offenses," Bailey wrote. "They need a true No. 1 cornerback, and Reed would provide that."

Reed, 28, became a star during his three-year Jets tenure. Once a fifth-round pick who was let go by the San Francisco 49ers in 2019, he's allowed an impressive 83.3 passer rating and 6.2 yards per target over his time in New York.

Spotrac currently projects a four-year, $59 million contract for Reed, which would be a nice pay raise from the $11 million per year he made on average with the Jets. The Bengals could finagle that sort of cash for Reed at this stage of the spring, but so could any team if they wanted him badly enough.

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