USAT: Jets Wire audio clip

USAT: Jets Wire

Mar 21, 2022

Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas preached the importance of adding championship experience to the roster when the Jets traded for QB Joe Flacco and OG Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff midway through the 2021 season. - Douglas followed those moves up by signing four more veterans who have played in a Super Bowl. - CB D.J. Reed, OG Laken Tomlinson, TE C.J. Uzomah and S Jordan Whitehead all played in one of the past three Super Bowls. Reed and Tomlinson did so with the 49ers and Saleh in 2019, while Whitehead played on the Buccaneers’ team that beat the Chiefs in 2020. Uzomah just played in in the Super Bowl with the Bengals, who fell to the Rams this year. - With the exception of Reed, three of the free agents saw significant action in those games, too. Tomlinson, Whitehead and Uzomah started in their respective team’s postseason runs and played at least 68 percent of their team’s Super Bowl snaps. - Experience alone won’t elevate the Jets roster, but a sense of what it’s like to win should help one of the NFL’s youngest teams in practice, in the locker room, and in the huddle. The only other players on the roster who have seen action in a Super Bowl are Flacco, RB Tevin Coleman, S Lamarcus Joyner and DE John Franklin-Myers. WR Braxton Berrios played for the Patriots in 2018 but was on injured reserve when New England won the Super Bowl. - Bringing in four more players who know what it’s like to play in the biggest game of the year should help a Jets team led by a second-year quarterback, running back, receiver and fourth-year defensive tackle. A young core is important to build sustained success, but surrounding those pieces with veteran leaders is how you become a contender. - Saleh and Douglas understand this from their time on championship teams, and now they’ve brought in more experienced players in their second full offseason together. - - List - - 6 things to know about new Jets OL Laken Tomlinson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Jets Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Jets Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

F i l t e r   &   S o r t