The New York Jets’ “No. 1 priority” of their own free agents is bringing back linebacker Jamien Sherwood, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
However, they are going to have competition for his services.
“Defensively, rumor has it the [New England] Patriots covet Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood, who fits the new prototype [Mike] Vrabel is seeking at that position,” The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed said via Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated. “The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder hits harder than his listed frame would suggest, the exact type of physical, violent player Vrabel wants. The Patriots are working to infuse more speed in their defensive front, which will feature smaller, faster players under Vrabel and new defensive coordinator Terrell Williams compared to most of their defenses of the past two decades.”
Sherwood’s Contract Expectations Revealed by Insiders
Cimini revealed that Sherwood is expected to command “at least $8M per year, but he’s only 25 and an ascending player.”
NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY confirmed the Jets’ interest in keeping Sherwood.
“Sherwood will have a robust market,” Hughes added.
“The feeling is that Sherwood will command something in the range of a three-year deal worth $8-10 million per season,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic revealed.
If Sherwood was to get that total he would rank between the No. 9 and No. 15 highest-paid linebacker in football, per Over The Cap.
Rosenblatt confirmed that there is “mutual interest” between Sherwood and this new Jets regime.
Jets-Patriots Rivalry Has Been Renewed
This offseason Mike Vrabel was a leading favorite to land the Jets head coaching gig.
The green and white were the first team that held an in-person meeting with Vrabel this coaching cycle.
NFL Insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic said the meeting between Vrabel and the Jets went “really really well.”
After Week 18 the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo as the head coach and immediately had Vrabel in their mind as a possible replacement, according to Chad Graff and RJ Kraft of The Athletic.
Ultimately New England went through the Rooney Rule checklist so they could hire Vrabel. The Pats were the first team that hired a head coach this offseason of any in the NFL.
There has always been bad blood between the Jets and Patriots franchises. This Vrabel situation has only stoked the flames.
“While Jerod Mayo still was the Patriots’ head coach at the time, Vrabel’s interview with the team’s AFC East rival raised eyebrows in New England amid speculation that Vrabel could be a prime candidate for the Patriots’ coaching job if they decided to move on from Mayo,” Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston said. “And as our Patriots Insider Phil Perry reported Sunday on Patriots Postgame Live, Vrabel seemingly was well aware of what he was doing.”
“There are several people in the league that I’ve spoken to who believed and who saw that move as calculated by Vrabel,” Phil Perry said via Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. “(They saw it as) Vrabel shaking his tail feather from a few hundred miles away down in Jersey at the Krafts and letting them know, ‘If you want me, you might have to act fast, or you’ll have to deal with me in the division for the next decade, potentially.’”
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