The Jets agreed Wednesday to re-sign Thomas to a one-year deal worth up to $3.9 million, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Thomas first signed with the Jets on a one-year, $2.25 million contract last offseason following one campaign with the Raiders. This deal reunited the 6-foot-2 interior defensive lineman with Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who served as Thomas' defensive coordinator in San Francisco from 2017-20. The 27-year-old went on to record double-digit tackles for just the second time in his career while playing in the Jets' deep rotation of defensive linemen. Thomas now figures to reprise a similar role alongside star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams this coming season.
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Jets' Bryce Huff: Tendered at second-round level
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The Jets tendered Huff at the second-round level as a restricted free agent Wednesday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.
The 2020 undrafted free agent out of Memphis recorded 3.5 sacks on just 191 defensive snaps last season and is in line for an expanded pass-rushing role in 2023. He has 7.5 sacks on 823 career snaps.
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Texans' Sheldon Rankins: Lands in Houston on one-year deal
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The Texans agreed to terms with Rankins on a one-year, $10.5 million contract Wednesday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
The No. 12 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Rankins spent the last two seasons with the Jets after beginning his career in New Orleans. He's coming off a 2022 campaign in which he tallied three sacks and 43 tackles over 15 appearances. Rankins is a lane plugger up front and should be among the Texans' leaders in snaps played at defensive tackle during the upcoming season.
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Saints' Nathan Shepherd: Lands in Big Easy
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Shepherd agreed Wednesday with the Saints on a three-year, $15 million contract, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Shepherd's deal reportedly includes $10.2 million guaranteed. The veteran defensive tackle is coming off consecutive seasons without missing a single game, while operating as a key depth option along the Jets' defensive line. He stands to handle a similarly significant role in New Orleans going forward.
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Jets' Quincy Williams: Agrees to three-year deal
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Williams agreed to a three-year, $18 million contract with the Jets on Sunday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Williams was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this week, but he'll instead remain in New York. The 26-year-old has recorded back-to-back seasons with 100-plus tackles since joining the Jets, and he logged 106 tackles (74 solo), including three sacks, and a pass defense over 15 appearances last year.
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Marcell Harris: Tenure with Jets ceases
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Harris' (ankle) practice-squad contract with the Jets expired Monday, per the NFL's transaction log.
Harris opened the regular season on the Jets' active roster and appeared in the first 10 games before being waived Nov. 24. The 28-year-old linebacker then joined the team's practice squad and was elevated for the Week 14 loss to Buffalo. However, he was forced out with an ankle injury that landed him on the practice-squad injured list for the remainder of the 2022 campaign. Harris, who spent the first four seasons in a consistent role with San Francisco, finished this season with a career-low 12 tackles. He'll now likely seek to carve out a special-teams role somewhere heading into the 2023 regular season.
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Jets' Craig James: Lands new deal
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James signed a reserve/future contract Wednesday, Ethan Greenberg of the Jets' official site reports.
James was cut by the Jets in July with a non-football injury designation. Now healthy, James will get a second chance to earn a role with the team next season.
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Jets' D.J. Reed: Shines opposite Sauce
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Reed totaled career highs in tackles (80), solo tackles (63) and passes defensed (12), while adding one interception and playing all 17 games in 2022.
Reed was excellent in his first season with the Jets, forming half of the league's best cornerback duo alongside rookie Pro Bowler Sauce Gardner. Unfortunately for the Jets, the team's struggles on offense wasted a phenomenal season from the secondary as New York fell short of the playoffs at 7-10. Reed has two more years on the contract he signed prior to the 2022 campaign.
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Jets' John Franklin-Myers: Five sacks in 2022
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Franklin-Myers racked up 38 tackles (16 solo), five sacks and one pass defensed while playing all 17 games in 2022.
Franklin-Myers set a new career high in tackles by three while coming one sack short of his 2021 total. The versatile defensive lineman can line up along the edge or on the interior, and he's expected to remain a key defensive piece for the Jets in 2023, which will be the second year of a four-year, $55 million contract. JFM was involved in one of the low points of New York's once-promising 7-10 season, as a controversial roughing the passer penalty on Franklin-Myers wiped out a pick-six in a five-point, Week 8 loss to New England.
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Jets' Jordan Whitehead: Career-best 89 tackles in 2022
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Whitehead totaled a career-high 89 tackles (58 solo) to go with two interceptions and eight passes defensed in 2022.
The physical safety played in all 17 games in his first season with the Jets, and he was a key cog in one of the league's stingiest secondaries. Whitehead has one more year left on his contract, so he's expected to reprise the starting strong safety role for Gang Green in 2023.
Williams finished the 2022 campaign with 106 tackles (74 solo), three sacks, 12 tackles for loss and one pass defensed.
What Williams lacks in coverage ability, he makes up for in stopping the run, as the 2019 third-round draft selection of the Jaguars has racked up 216 tackles in 31 games since being claimed on waivers by the Jets. Quincy will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, though his preference is to remain in New York alongside his brother Quinnen Williams.
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Jets' Chazz Surratt: Sticking around the Big Apple
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The Jets signed Surratt to a reserve/future contract Wednesday, Ethan Greenberg of the team's official site reports.
Despite suiting up for just one game this past season, Surratt is slated to remain with the Jets heading into the 2023-24 campaign. The 2021 third-round draft pick by Minnesota has yet to take a defensive snap as a pro.
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Jets' Quinnen Williams: Wants extension after 12-sack year
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Williams finished the 2022 season with 12.0 sacks, 55 tackles (35 solo), four passes defensed, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 16 games.
Williams' career high sack total is even more impressive when you consider that he accrued it while rushing from the interior. The Jets picked up his fifth-year option for 2023, but Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports that Williams is hoping to get a long-term deal done by April. Williams can't quite demand Aaron Donald money ($31.7 million per year), but he's the league's premier source of interior pressure after Donald and is seeking to become the second-highest paid defensive tackle at more than $21 million per year.
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Jets' Sauce Gardner: Leads league in passes defensed
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Gardner finished the 2022 season with 75 tackles (51 solo), two interceptions and a league-high 20 passes defensed.
Gardner's addition played a key role in New York's historic improvement on defense compared to last season, as the Jets went from 29.6 points allowed per game to 18.6. There's a strong argument that the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft was the best cover corner in the league as a rookie considering Gardner led the NFL in passes defensed despite teams rarely throwing his way. Many a prominent wide receiver was "lost in the Sauce" in 2022, and that's likely to remain a common theme for years to come.
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Jets' C.J. Mosley: Racks up 158 tackles in 2022
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Mosley posted seven tackles (five solo) in Sunday's season finale against the Dolphins, bringing his 2022 total to 158 tackles (99 solo).
After posting a career-high 168 tackles in 2021, Mosley came 10 short of that total in 2022 while adding one sack, seven passes defensed, one interception, one fumble recovery and five tackles for loss. There's a potential out in his contract prior to the 2023 season, but the 30-year-old linebacker is more likely than not to remain with the Jets, be it on his current deal or a restructured one.
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Jets' Tony Adams: Downgraded to out
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Adams (head) has been ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's game against the Dolphins.
Adams registered six tackles before leaving this weekend's matchup versus Miami with a head injury. Ashtyn Davis and Will Parks should both receive additional secondary snaps for the rest of the afternoon alongside Jordan Whitehead.
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Jets' Jordan Whitehead: Will play Sunday
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Whitehead (hamstring) is active Sunday against the Dolphins, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.
Whitehead appeared on the team's injury report Wednesday and closed out the week with limited practices. The fifth-year safety's ability to suit up should be a boon for the team's secondary and also help them play spoiler to the Dolphins' playoff chances.
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Jets' Brandin Echols: Season officially over
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Echols (quadriceps) was placed on injured reserve Saturday.
Echols has missed each of the team's last three games and his season is now officially over. He saw a diminished role on the defensive unit as compared to 2021, but he was still a special teams contributor and managed eight total tackles in 13 games.
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Jets' Lamarcus Joyner: Will end season on IR
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The Jets placed Joyner (hip) on injured reserve Saturday.
Joyner had already been ruled out for Sunday's regular-season finale against Miami after aggravating a hip injury Week 17 against Seattle. With the Jets already eliminated from playoff contention, the 32-year-old will look to get healthy again heading into the 2023 offseason. Joyner re-signed with the Jets on a one-year, $2.6 million contract in March of 2022, so he'll be set to hit free agency heading into his 10th professional season.
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Jets' Brandin Echols: Out again
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Echols (quadriceps) will remain sidelined for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Dolphins.
No surprise here, as Echols was a non-participant at practice all week. The absence will be his fourth straight due to a quadriceps injury he suffered in Week 14. Michael Carter again figures to be in line for a larger rotational cornerback role as a result.
