Four Cornerbacks the Jets Should Pursue in Free Agency

From top options like Carlton Davis to veterans like Casey Hayward Jr., here are four cornerbacks for the Jets to pursue in free agency this offseason.

For all the things that went wrong for the New York Jets in the 2021 season, it was hard to not be somewhat pleasantly surprised by the production they got out of their cornerback room. 

Their trio of starters — Bryce Hall, Brandin Echols and Michael Carter II — are all former Day 3 picks from the last two NFL Drafts and brought a combined seven professional starts (all from Bryce Hall) into training camp. 

No team had a more thin or less experienced group of corners last year and, for all things considered, each showed flashes of potential.

Still, the pass defense from a number’s perspective was one of the worst in football all year long. The Jets finished 29th in opposing completion percentage, 30th in total yards allowed and 31st in both opposing quarterback rating and team interceptions. Hall was the top of the group, with an individual grade of 63.2 by PFF, but was outside the top 50 corners in that metric.

Both statements, one that the Jets can be pleased with the development of their young corners and the other that they are best served for reserve or rotational roles moving forward, can be true. While this is a defense that’s more centered around getting pressure with four defensive linemen, the Jets aren’t there just yet, making it extremely important that a strong secondary can buy the front four more time. Plain and simple, this cornerback room needs a major facelift heading into the 2022 campaign at the top of the depth chart, allowing last year’s starters to thrive in relief roles.

There are a lot of intriguing talents available this free agency but finding the right schematic fit cuts off some of the premier talents. Former All-Pro New England Patriot J.C. Jackson is one of the best names available this offseason, however paying a lockdown man-coverage corner to sit in a soft Cover 3 zone all day isn’t getting the most out of his talents. He’d certainly still be one of the top corners in the league, but he’s probably going to be more attracted to destinations that let him sit on an island all day and lock down defenders.

Let’s look at some of the more realistic, zone-coverage corners that would really boost the Jets defense next season.

Four Cornerbacks the New York Jets Should Target in Free Agency

Here are four different options at cornerback for the Jets to pursue this offseason.

Carlton Davis, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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The Big (Defensive) Ticket:

The crème de la crème of free agent signings for New York this offseason has been talked about all year in anticipation, with former Auburn cornerback Carlton Davis hitting free agency before his age-25 season. Alongside the previously mentioned Jackson, Davis is a top-three free agent at the position with former Patriot and Panther Stephon Gilmore. 

READ: PFF Predicts Jets Will Sign Carlton Davis in Free Agency

Since coming into the league, Davis has been one of the stronger zone-coverage corners in all of football, grading in the top 25 of corners in PFF Wins Above Replacement each of the last three seasons. While a quad injury ended his 2021 season in early October, Davis has had a relatively healthy career otherwise and has the consistency to prove he’s a winning team’s No. 1 corner.

His anticipation skills will hopefully lead to more pass breakups and interceptions for the Jets secondary next year, and his physicality will resemble some of the greats that have played in this defensive scheme — most notably Richard Sherman in Seattle and San Francisco as well as Jalen Ramsey in Jacksonville. His aggression will lead to penalties more than most corners, and he landed in the top-15 each of his last two full seasons, but that’s the price you’ll pay at times for the good that comes out on the other side.

Carlton Davis has his third interception of the season! #GoBucs

📺: #TBvsCHI on NFLN/FOX/PRIME
📱: https://t.co/W5bCPYgMfo pic.twitter.com/09Qv5YMuNe

— NFL (@NFL) October 9, 2020

For my money, this is a signing that gets done on day one of free agency where the Jets shouldn’t look back. They’ll end up paying a premium for his services, but Davis fits the mold of a cornerstone to this scheme and is entering the prime years of his career.

Rasul Douglas, Green Bay Packers

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The Prove-It-Again Corner:

The 2021 season was a career-saving year for Rasul Douglas, as the 6-foot-2 corner went from the Arizona Cardinals practice squad to a Pro Bowl alternate with the Packers in a matter of three months. Now, entering free agency while still only 26, Douglas has the chance to cash in with starting-caliber money as he enters the prime years of his career.

Last year’s ninth-best coverage corner and 16th-best corner overall was dominant in Green Bay’s heavy zone scheme and was one of the best in the game when it came to making plays on the football. His five interceptions almost doubled what the Jets corners were able to haul in last year, and his 13 pass defections almost matched the total of Jets’ leader Bryce Hall’s 16 in almost 450 fewer snaps.

RASUL DOUGLAS PICK-6

📺: #LARvsGB on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/8R0VM06wJG

— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2021

The elephant in the room with Douglas is this level of production seemingly came out of nowhere, as he struggled to make things work in any of his previous four seasons. While this could be a concern for New York’s front office, 2021 may have shown the type of player that general manager Joe Douglas saw in him when he was part of the Eagles draft room that selected Rasul in the third round of the 2017 draft. If that’s the case, the previous ties and foundation to build off of would make Rasul a great No. 2 corner for the Jets next season. 

Sidney Jones, Seattle Seahawks

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The Reclamation Project:

Scouring through the next tier of free-agent corners landed my eyes on what once was a top corner college prospect with ties to the front office in former Washington Huskie Sidney Jones.

Heading into the 2017 NFL Draft, Jones was looked at as the top of his class until a torn Achilles during his Pro Day sent him into the second round. Waiting for him, with the 43rd pick, was VP of Player Personnel Joe Douglas and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones has had a really tough go at it since entering the league, not being able to finish more than 12 games in each of his first five years — appearing in 33 of a possible 80 games. The injuries were really starting to pile up until his most recent season, where he was available for 16 of 17 games and made 11 starts for the Seattle Seahawks. His 70.2 grade placed 26th among corners in 2021 and he boasts one of the league’s best incompletion rates in the NFL over the last three years.

Back-to-back strong seasons in a heavy Cover-3 scheme has made him an interesting name to keep an eye on. Jones has started to show he can be relied on for the course of a season and, if the injuries are a part of his past, he could really start to become the impact player many pegged him to be coming out of college. This would be the perfect team for Douglas and his front office to give Jones a chance to make that impact on, as he’d be a great low-cost, high-reward target that is meant to play in a scheme like head coach Robert Saleh’s.

Casey Hayward Jr., Las Vegas Raiders

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The Sturdy Veteran:

If the Jets want a reliable, knowledgeable corner to enter the room this offseason and help coach up the young members of the secondary then 32-year-old Casey Hayward Jr. would be a perfect fit.

Spending the last five seasons in Gus Bradley’s Cover-3 scheme with the Chargers and Raiders Hayward Jr. has been as consistent as they come, grading above 70.0 in four of five years. He was 2021’s 12th-best overall corner and 14th-best coverage corner, a huge bounce back season following a down year in 2020.

Hayward will be 32 entering next season, and his time in the league is probably nearing its end, but he’s missed just one game since the 2016 season and should still be counted on as a solid starting cornerback for the 2022 campaign. His experience and leadership would easily be welcomed by the Jets staff, as this organization has preached the need for team-oriented guys and Heyward was praised all year long for bringing that to the Raiders.

While there are plenty of chances to sign an ascending player at corner this offseason, having a high-floor and high-character leader in Hayward would really help mature this secondary. 

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