The safety position is an interesting one for the Jets moving forward. It was arguably the weakest spot on the team, certainly on defense. The team has already made moves to upgrade the position. Let’s dive into the deep middle of the defense.
Under contract for 2023
Jordan Whitehead
Whitehead was supposed to be a key free-agent signing in 2022. He wasn’t great but he wasn’t horrible either. There’s room for improvement. Could the Jets actually cut ties with Whitehead after one season? They would save about $7.25 million in cap space if they choose to. He’s due $6.75 million in base salary plus $500,000 in per-game bonuses ($29,411 each game). If anything, he was always available, playing over 99% of the defensive snaps in 2022 and totaling 85 tackles, though he did have some poor moments missing tackles and getting beat over the top. He’ll be an interesting case study.
Tony Adams
Adams was a key reserve as one of the undrafted rookies to crack the roster in 2022. There’s room to grow, but the Jets seem to like what they have in Adams.
Will Parks
Parks saw a few starts at safety in 2022, some in place of an injured Lamarcus Joyner. He also saw work when the Jets had three safeties on the field. Parks will make the veteran minimum of $1.165 million and his cap hit is just $940,000 in 2023.
Ashtyn Davis
Davis made his money on special teams in 2022, being one of the core specialists. But his claim to fame from last season was his interception on his one and only snap to seal the comeback victory against the Browns in Week 2. Davis is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Chuck Clark
This won’t become official until the start of the league year on Wednesday, but the Jets have agreed to trade for Clark from the Ravens. Clark has been a very solid safety over his first six seasons in the NFL and will essentially replace Joyner. Clark is due almost $2.5 million in base salary and a $1.16 million roster bonus on March 19.
Free agents for 2023
Lamarcus Joyner
Joyner is the lone free agent for the Jets but the sense is that he is going to retire. The Jets have already found his replacement anyway with Clark. Certainly an upgrade over Joyner from last season, who struggled quite a bit last season, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 72nd-ranked safety out of 88.
Free agency options
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Why not shoot for the stars at the position, even after the addition of Clark? The Jets can improve on Whitehead and there wouldn’t be a bigger splash, maybe in all of free agency, than landing Gardner-Johnson, who was a huge piece to Philadelphia’s run to Super Bowl LVII with six interceptions and that was with missing six games. Imagine a secondary with Sauce Gardner and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Jessie Bates III
The writing has been on the wall for a while that Bates is likely to leave Cincinnati in free agency. If the Jets don’t get CJG, Bates would be more than just a consolation prize. Bates is still one of the top safeties in the game today, graded out as a top-25 overall safety by PFF and was No. 5 in run defense.
Taylor Rapp
Not as splashy as CGJ or Bates, but a player that ranked as a top-15 safety on PFF and can move all over the field and pair nicely with Clark. He would also cost a little more than half of what it will take to land CGJ or Bates.
Draft options
Brian Branch, Alabama
A versatile safety from the world of Nick Saban, Branch can play deep and can come down and play in the slot. There’s concern about his size (six feet, 190 pounds) but his play on the field helps him overcome that size.
Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
Johnson is also very versatile and provides a bit more length than Branch does (six-foot-two, 198 pounds). The question is can he play deep? If paired well enough, Johnson can float around in the box and make an impact, especially against the run.
Jordan Battle, Alabama
Branch isn’t the only Alabama safety available that would help the Jets. Jordan Battle is pretty good too. Battle had 71 tackles in 2022 and was a third-team AP All-American. He’s even a bit bigger than Johnson at 6’1″ and about 210 pounds and offers almost the same amount of versatility for a player that will likely be available later in round three, maybe even into the third day of the draft.
