After two seasons in with the Dolphins, Ballage will reportedly reunite with Adam Gase via a trade to the New York Jets.
Plot twist: The #Dolphins are trading RB Kalen Ballage to the #Jets for a conditional late-round pick, source said. Miami had planned to release him, but NYJ stepped in before it was official and the two have a deal.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the New York Jets are sending over a conditional late-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for rusher Kalen Ballage. Specific terms of the deal have yet to be announced.
Ballage, 24, left the Dolphins’ training camp practice early on Wednesday in Davie and was set to be released by the Dolphins before the Jets reportedly stepped in.
The 24-year-old entered the league as a fourth-round pick (131st overall) out of Arizona State. Collegiately, Ballage is best known for scoring a Football Bowl Subdivision Record eight touchdowns for the Sun Devils in their 2016 win over Texas Tech.
The trade reunites Ballage with New York Jets head coach Adam Gase, who oversaw his rookie season with the Dolphins. Ballage burst onto the scene in the late stages of 2018, tallying 123 yards on 12 carries in a December tilt against Minnesota. The big day was punctuated by a 75-yard scoring rush that opened the second half.
“That long run he had, that’s how he runs every day. That’s how he finishes every day,” Gase said after the Minnesota game, per Alain Poupart of MiamiDolphins.com “There’s a reason why he’s able to do that and was confident to just gas it and run by everybody because every day in practice we watch the same thing. When he gets a carry with the offense, he finishes in the end zone. It’s a good trait to have.”
His debut season ended with 191 yards and a 5.3 average.
He took on an increased role with six starts during the 2019 season but dealt with a leg injury and struggles, seeing his average drop to 1.8. Ballage has also earned 119 yards on 23 receptions during his Dolphins tenure.
While trading for Ballage, who was set to be let go as is, makes sense from a familiarity standpoint (having worked with Gase and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains in Miami), the rushers’ room has gotten a little crowded. Incumbent starter Le’Veon Bell is set to return, and the Jets also added veteran Frank Gore this offseason. Gore previously worked with Ballage in Miami during the 2018 season.
The team also chose Florida alum Lamical Perine in the fourth round of April’s draft. Veteran reserve Josh Adams also returns and undrafted Monmouth-produced rookie Pete Guerriero was signed earlier this week.
Guerriero, the newest member of the New York Jets, was a two-sport athlete and earned nearly 4,000 rushing yards in Long Branch.
The New York Jets have announced the signing of running back Pete Guerriero to their active roster. In a corresponding move, the team released safety Anthony Cioffi.
Guerriero’s invitation to Jets camp in Florham Park continues his New Jersey football. The Monmouth alum hails from Lyndhurst and got his start at the local high school of the same name.
In three years with the FCS program in Monmouth, also the alma mater of new Jets teammate Chris Hogan, Guerriero earned 3,974 rushing yards (second-best in school history) and 39 total touchdowns. He saved the best for last, earning 1,995 rushing yards (leading Football Championship Subdivision) and 18 scores on the ground in his redshirt junior campaign last season. His tenure was capped off a trio of 200-yard rushing performances over his final four games representing Long Branch. The efforts allowed Monmouth to clinch the first outright conference title in program history, winning the Big South Conference with a 10-2 record (including a perfect 7-0 mark in Big South play).
Guerriero also guided the Hawks to their first FCS playoff win, tallying 228 rushing yards and three scores in a 44-27 win over Holy Cross last November. The Hawks eventually fell to the future finalists from James Madison, but they still ended the year ranked 13th in the final FCS Coaches’ poll.
The running back’s efforts were rewarded with a third-place finish in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy (previous winners include Steve McNair, Brian Westbrook, Tony Romo, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Cooper Kupp). Guerriero also ran track in Long Branch, winning the 100m and 200m at the MAAC Championships in his true freshman year of 2016.
Should he make the team, Guerriero would be the first Monmouth alum to play for the Jets in the regular season since Neal Sterling. The receiver was originally a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars as a seventh-round pick (2015) and earned 12 receptions over two seasons in green.
Cioffi, a Rutgers alum, finds himself released by the Jets for the second time in a ten-day span. A four-year starter in Piscataway, Cioffi spent the past two years with the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks. The safety gained a slight bit of notoriety earlier in camp, as he was revealed to be the first Jet to wear No. 33 after the departure of franchise face Jamal Adams.
Jacksonville will want something hefty in return for Yannick Ngakoue, but the reward greatly outweighs the risk for the New York Jets.
With football attempting to creep back into our lives, one could get some clicks compiling a list of locker room availability cliches we’ll potentially miss as social distancing carries on into 2020’s latter stages.
The NHL’s Canadian enclosures brought about the return of “pucks deep“, for example. The NFL is making its return in more confined settings, but you’re still hearing the training camp defaults like “he’s in the best shape of his life” or “everyone has to earn their spot on the depth chart”. Once we get to the season, preparation will undoubtedly be marked by declarations of “making the quarterback uncomfortable” on the road to victory.
That cliche, however, is like the jump scare in horror movies: if you pull it off right, it will pay off big dividends.
The truism’s magnum opus is perhaps Super Bowl XLII, as the New York Giants’ relentless pressure on Tom Brady put the undefeated New England Patriots into straight-up panic mode. It takes a lot to throw Aaron Rodgers off his game, but his Green Bay Packers are 5-18 when he’s sacked at least five times.
Its effectiveness could perhaps be a lesson for the New York Jets. The days of the “New York Sack Exchange” being mere MetLife Stadium tailgate memories, the Jets have had major problems invading opposing backfields. Since 2016, the Jets have earned 129 sacks, bettering only three other teams in the rest of the NFL. AFC overlords new (Kansas City) and old (New England) are in the middle of the pack at 14th and 15th. The perennial contenders from Pittsburgh top the list with 200. They haven’t had a losing record since 2003, and the 696 sacks they’ve tallied during that streak might have something to with it.
The Jets’ defense is going into a year of uncertainty brought upon transition. Jamal Adams, the face of the franchise, forced his way to the Pacific Northwest and C.J. Mosley chose (understandably) to opt-out of the 2020 proceedings. Making the playoffs is going to be a tall task, even with the expanded capital, but this is going to be a year where plenty of free agents-to-be and one-year additions and re-ups that will get to audition for the good times ahead.
All that’s missing is Yannick Ngakoue. The disgruntled defender is currently at odds with the Jacksonville Jaguars and has been on his own quest for a transfer. He is 12th in the NFL in sacks (37.5) over the last four seasons and has been regarded for his backfield pressure. Depending on who you ask, the Jets may be closing on a deal to paint the 2017 Pro Bowler’s equipment green and bring him aboard for 2020.
Ordinarily, adding Ngakoue’s name, talent, and salary (the 2021 free agent is set to make over $17 million next season) is the type of move a team makes when they’re the proverbial “one move away” from a Super Bowl, and the Jets are much more than one move away from a return trip over five decades in the making. But his New York arrival would be beneficial on all sides.
A New Face
The Jaguars’ shocking, most recent run to the AFC Championship Game feels like an eternity ago, but we’re somehow only two years removed from that endeavor that nearly (and, according to some, should’ve) ended in the Super Bowl. Even if that game’s officiating can be questioned, it’s still one of the more puzzling mysteries in recent NFL history that a defense that featured the services Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, Marcell Dareus, Malik Jackson, Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, and Jalen Ramsey, among others, never went back to the postseason. Most of that group has bolted from Jacksonville, with Jack and Ngakoue being the lone leftovers.
A turn to the Jets could give Ngakoue a chance to truly flash his potential, a chance to be the defensive face of one of the NFL’s most important markets. The Jets are a team that is in desperate need of a big-name defender with Mosley out for 2020 and Adams napalming any bridges he had left with the organization. There are plenty of young names that can potentially move forward…it’s a big year for Marcus Maye and Quinnen Williams for example…but this could be a great opportunity for both Ngakoue and the Jets to hit the reset button on their respective timelines. Ngakoue, as someone who’s had his fair share of proven success on the NFL level, can have control and leadership of a defense, while the Jets can work out with a potential new defensive face. Plenty of New Yorkers are in make or break situations, but, as a team, the Jets are in a relatively consequence-free year. This opens things up to spend a good portion of the remaining summer budget on a Ngakoue audition.
Pressure Cooker
As mentioned above, we can laugh all we want about teams preaching about the importance of making a quarterback uncomfortable, but the fact remains that it works. Silencing the antics of a mobile threat makes it all the more crucial. The Jets might have to face three in their division alone.
Recent NFL Top 100 Players nominee Josh Allen is part of the reason why many have the Buffalo Bills pegged as the team best in position to usurp the Patriots’ seemingly eternal hold on the AFC East throne. New England is attempting to counter by bringing in former MVP Cam Newton, while the Miami Dolphins enter a new era with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. Both have well regarded for their ability to change the game with not only their arms but their legs as well.
Thus, a strong pass rush is more important than ever. Allen, for example, has earned a 5-2 record when he tallies at least 50 rushing yards, but those numbers drop to 6-8 when he’s held under 30 or less. Save for the combined 14.5 sacks Adams and team leader Jordan Jenkins tallied, no Jets defender had more than three quarterback takedowns. It’s time to change that, and Ngakoue can be a great way to change that narrative.
Open the Vault
Training camp is open, but the Jets’ roster is anything but complete. Pass rush is one of several areas the team can improve on as Week 1 looms. The team is experimenting with help in the receiver room, as Field Yates reported that they welcomed in former top ten pick Kevin White for a workout.
According to the Over the Cap, the Jets have just over $30 million in cap space to spend. It’s not under the greatest circumstances (Mosley’s opt-out contributed $10 million to that tally), but that’s a decent amount to have at your disposal at this point in the offseason. Hence, the Jets have a rare opportunity to splurge if/when a trade presents itself through some excess space and, perhaps more importantly draft capital.
Jacksonville is reportedly seeking at least a second-round pick in potential Ngakoue negotiations. General manager Joe Douglas somehow collaborated Seattle in an “everybody wins”-type deal, getting back two first-round picks for a player that did everything short of tie the Jets’ Lombardi Trophy from Super Bowl III to the back of his car and drag it around the parking lot at One Jets Drive. Parting with them is likely out of the question…especially if Ngakoue’s potential for being merely a 2020 rental…but with armed with two first-rounders in each of the next two years, the Jets certainly have some flexibility with their seconds.
The Jets are, again, equipped with little to lose as a team unit next season, so they’d be wise to take advantage. Trading for Ngakoue would be a great start to taking advantage of that role.
The New York Jets opened some cap space with a series of transactions last week. Where should they spend that cash?
As AC/DC once famously declared…money talks.
The departure of several players…be it through opt-outs (C.J. Mosley, Josh Doctson) or outright releases (Brian Winters)…netted the New York Jets some extra 2020 cap space. Per Over the Cap, these moves have left the Jets with just over $30 million in cap space. If words from this time last season are any indication, they plan on using that money.
In his earliest days as the helm of the Jets’ decision-making, general manager Joe Douglas mentioned he was “fired up” to familiarize himself with the waiver wire.
Where should the Jets spend this relative windfall? ESM has some ideas…
Receiver
With the release of Quincy Enunwa, there are no receivers left from the 2018 roster, Sam Darnold’s rookie season. In terms of the current depth chart, Jamison Crowder is a reliable prescience in the slot and Breshad Perriman is going to get to audition for top receiver duties. Behind them, however, the Jets are sorely lacking in experience. That attribute became even thinner when former first-round pick Doctson opted out earlier this month.
The Jets have high hopes for Denzel Mims but he’s their second-round pick. Vyncint Smith and Braxton Berrios return from last year’s team, but they have a combined 28 receptions between them…all but six of them coming from Smith. Players with handfuls of NFL snaps and undrafted free agents populate the rest of the corps. No one’s expecting the modern Jets offense to be a sequel to the Greatest Show on Turf. But some more experienced receivers could do wonders for the confidence of Darnold, who enters the proverbially vital third under center. An easy solution could be to re-sign Demaryius Thomas.
Potential Candidates: Paul Richardson, Taylor Gabriel, Demaryius Thomas
Pass Rush
The Jets knew that the foreseeable future would feature a pair of matchups against the multi-talented Josh Allen. This offseason promised that the next decade could also feature get-togethers with Tua Tagovailoa and Cam Newton. The 2020 slate also features matchups against the speedy Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, and, the half-billion-dollar man himself, Patrick Mahomes.
The common theme around any modern defensive gameplan, especially in today’s era that worships a fantasy football deity, is to make the quarterback uncomfortable. That’s something the Jets simply haven’t done over the past few seasons of futility. Since 2016, the Jets have earned 129 sacks. That sounds like a lot on paper, but the cumulative tally is 29th in the league in that span, besting only the Giants, Dolphins, and Raiders.
New York management has shown surprisingly little interest in Jadeveon Clowney (even with his former Seattle compatriot Bradley McDougald playing matchmaker), but there’s still potential to upgrade here. There’s plenty of veteran help on the market that can raise the pressure, if only so slightly. Bringing in a veteran name could also help the coming-of-age process for Quinnen Williams. Last season’s first-round pick is expected to take on a bigger role as a defensive playmaker in 2020.
The Jamal Adams saga is over, but the questions have only just begun.
The safety position will be one of the most consistently intriguing green areas on the New York football landscape. Marcus Maye faces a contract season that will feature expanded duties and could determine his football future. Another Pac-12 alum, Cal’s Ashtyn Davis, joined the team after a third-round calling. Bradley McDougald, the only yield from the Adams trade with a name so far, filled in well for Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas in Seattle but will be expected to take on a larger role this time around. Behind those names lies uncertainty in the form of names with very limited regular season experience.
Remaining names on the safeties market are certainly big on age on experience. Former Giant Antoine Bethea may be beyond his prime, but options like Clayton Geathers and Morgan Burnett can provide some veteran stability and strong contingency options if Maye and McDougald don’t play up to expectations and Davis struggles to acclimate to instant contributions on the NFL level, veteran help could come in very handy.
Potential Candidates: Clayton Geathers, Morgan Burnett, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, John Cyprien
With several key contributors out, the New York Liberty added the North Carolina alumna. She played 11 games with Indiana last year.
The New York Liberty have confirmed the signing of free agent guard Paris Kea to their roster.
Kea, 24, was a third-round pick out of North Carolina (25th overall) of the Indiana Fever in the 2019 WNBA Draft. In three seasons with the Tar Heels (after transferring from Vanderbilt), Kea averaged 18 points per game, the second-best tally in program history. Her final two seasons saw her earn back-to-back First-Team All-ACC honors and her total point tally of 1,637 is the seventh-best in Chapel Hill history over a three-year span. Additionally, she reached 30 points in seven games over her career, also good for second-best in the blue archives.
A native of Tarboro, NC, Kea was a two-sport athlete in high school, also playing soccer. She also partook in international endeavors in 2014, representing the United States in the FIBA America U18 Championship for Women. The USA took home the gold with a team that included Kea, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Teaira McCowan.
Kea played 11 games with Indiana last season. Ironically, her best performance of the season came against the Liberty. In a June tilt at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Kea made her WNBA debut to the tune of 10 points (4-of-6 shooting) in a 92-77 Fever victory. She was released by Indiana in April.
New York had an open roster spot after several opt-outs and also sought depth after top overall pick Sabrina Ionescu went down with an ankle injury. Kia Nurse and Jazmine Jones have likewise missed time, albeit only one full game each, due to injury.
The Liberty (1-5) earned their first win of the season on Friday night, topping the defending champion Washington Mystics 74-66. They’ll look to start a streak on Sunday late afternoon against the Las Vegas Aces (5 p.m. ET, YES).
New York Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie has announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons. DeOssie made his declaration on Twitter and it was later posted on the Giants’ website. He acknowledged he had come to the decision to retire months prior, but wanted to make an official announcement to properly say farewell to the Big Blue community.
“I am retiring from football,” DeOssie says in his opener. “I wanted to make a formal announcement to acknowledge those who have made this experience so awesome – and this milestone so bittersweet.”
The North Andover, NJ native goes on to thank the Giants, their fans, his family, his alma mater of Brown University, and many others. The 36-year-old also reveals that he has already found a post-football calling, as he is set to take a role in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs.
“Head down, hands steady, produce results. I learned from my time with the Giants that hard work pays off,” De Ossie concludes. “As I walk away from the game as a player, I thankfully get to keep that mentality – and I’m excited to bring it to my new role in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. I have had the tremendous opportunity to work and learn at GS in my off-seasons, and am thrilled to be re-joining my team to deliver championship-level energy, effort, consistency, and results.”
“Thank you all. Go Giants!”
With the retirements of DeOssie and Eli Manning, the Giants have no more members leftover from their Super Bowl XLVI team, their last championship squad. DeOssie was also the second-longest-tenured member of the team behind Manning, having joined the team as a fourth-round pick (116th overall) in the 2007 Draft. His father Steve previously played for the Giants from 1989 through 1993 and was part of their championship team in Super Bowl XXV. When Zak won Super Bowl XLII, the pair became the first father-son pairing to win a Super Bowl with the same team.
Zak DeOssie earned 94 tackles in his NFL career and reached two Pro Bowls (2008, 2010). He played a major role in the Giants’ last Super Bowl titles, successfully enacting the snaps that led to New York’s game-winning field goals against Green Bay and San Francisco in 2008 and 2012 respectively. DeOssie took part in 199 regular season Giants games, good for fifth-most in franchise history.
Casey Kreiter, formerly of the Denver Broncos, is set to take over DeOssie’s snapper spot.
Doctson, 27, was signed to a one-year deal this spring. valued at $825,000 that will carry over to next season. He joined the league as a first-round pick of Washington in 2016 (22nd overall). He dealt with an Achilles injury during his rookie season but recovered to score six touchdowns during the 2017 season. The TCU alum was Washington’s second-leading receiver with 532 yards the following year, but the team would not pick up his fifth-season option. Doctson was later among the last cuts last summer.
He joined up with the Minnesota Vikings shortly after, but injuries limited to only one game in November, after which he was released. Doctson becomes the third member of the Jets to opt-out of 2020, joining linebacker C.J. Mosley and offensive lineman Leo Koloamatangi.
Doctson’s opt-out leaves the Jets razor thin on experience at receiver. Veteran Breshard Perriman was chosen to be the top option alongside second-round rookie Denzel Mims. Tenured slot receiver Jamison Crowder will return for his second year in green, as will younger veterans Vyncint Smith, Braxton Berrios, and Jeff Smith. Undrafted free agents and first-year players make up the rest of the catching corps, including Lawrence Cager, George Campbell, Josh Malone, and Jehu Chesson.
The departure of Doctson also leaves the Jets with exactly 80 players on their active roster, putting them at the number sought for NFL training camps this summer. They still have three players (Bryce Hall, Shyheim Carter, Ahmad Gooden) on the COVID-19 reserve list, which accounts for players who have either tested positive or have come into close contact with someone who did. They are eligible to come off after proper medical clearance.
The New York Jets bid farewell to several veterans as they prepare for training camp, including the tenured receiver Quincy Enunwa.
In addition to the release of Quincy Enunwa, the New York Jets let several veterans go as they prepare for the process of training camp.
The Jets also announced the departures of running back Trenton Cannon, offensive lineman Ben Braden, and linebacker Wyatt Ray. C.J. Mosley was also placed on the team’s COVID-19 opt-out list after the linebacker’s announcement that he would skip the 2020 season over the weekend.
With the release of Enunwa, the Jets have no receivers leftover from Sam Darnold’s rookie season of 2018. Enunwa had inked a four-year, $36 million extension shortly before that season ended, but he suffered a neck injury in last season’s opener that kept him out for the remainder of the year. He was going to miss the entirety of the upcoming campaign as well, placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list in May. Enunwa’s 1,617 yards on 222 receptions are each good for fourth-best on the Jets since 2014. Since Enunwa’s release came after June 1, there are no cap savings or hits.
Cannon joined the Jets as a sixth-round draft pick (204th overall) in 2018 out of Division II Virginia State. He tallied 257 yards of offense over his rookie season, scoring one rushing touchdown. He appeared in four games in 2019 but was placed on injured reserve in November.
Braden will see his second tenure with the Jets end with a release. The Michigan alum joined the Jets as an undrafted free agent and spent parts of the next three seasons in their system. New York released him in September, after which he was added to the practice squad in Green Bay. Braden rejoined the Jets in November and partook in their season finale in December. He took part in three Jets games overall.
Ray had yet to partake in a regular-season NFL game. He ended his senior season (2018) at Boston College with nine sacks, good for fifth in the ACC. Ray had previously spent time on the Houston Texans’ practice squad.
With the release of Cannon, Braden, and Ray, the Jets save just over $2 million in 2020 cap space.
With these transactions, the Jets are down to 81 players on their roster. Three other players are on the COVID-19 reserve list (Bryce Hall, Ahmad Gooden, Skyheim Carter), but remain eligible to return. Training camp rosters are expected to include 80 players as the NFL prepares to navigate their season around the ongoing health crisis.
Bradley McDougald has yet to play a down with the New York Jets, but he’s already trying to make a big play.
The newly acquired safety, thus far the only named acquisition from the Jamal Adams trade, is apparently trying to make sure he’s not the only former Seattle Seahawk to suit up for the Jets this season. A Monday night Twitter post featured a screenshot of a FaceTime conversation between him and former fellow Seattle defender Jadeveon Clowney. According to McDougald, Clowney is interested in a reunion, this one in a new shade of green.
“Spoke to my boy (Clowney) today, told me to the tell the (Jets) to come get him!!” McDougald happily declares in the caption accompanying the photo. “Let’s make it happen.”
Clowney and the Seahawks have been unable to come to terms on a long-term deal. He is currently listed as a free agent.
The 27-year-old defensive end didn’t secure a long-term deal with his original employers in Houston, having been franchise tagged last offseason. Houston dealt him to the Seahawks eight days before their opening week contest in exchange for Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo, and a third-round draft pick (which they later dealt to the Raiders). Clowney picked up 31 tackles, including three sacks, last season in Seattle to accompany four forced fumbles and his first career interception. He has earned 27.5 sacks over the last four seasons between his time with the Texans and Seahawks. In comparison, Jordan Jenkins is the current Jets’ leader in sacks in that span with 20.5.
Clowney is reportedly seeking a deal in the circa $20 million range, a landmark only three active defensive linemen (Aaron Donald, DeForest Buckner, Chris Jones) have reached. The Jets currently have just over $21 million in cap space with training camp set to open this week.
The New York Jets signed the 11th overall draft pick on Monday, as both he and the team were happy to reveal.
The New York Jets have announced the signing of first-round pick and offensive lineman Mekhi Becton. This signing comes hours after the team confirmed they were set with fellow selections Jabari Zuniga and James Morgan.
Becton himself confirmed his signing on social media in capitalized fashion.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the deal is worth a fully-guaranteed $18.45 million over four years. Rapoport has also stated that Becton is in the New York area, hinting that he will be ready to report to training camp on Tuesday with other first-timers.
The Jets chose Becton with the 11th overall pick out of Louisville in April’s NFL Draft. It marked the first time the Jets had taken an offensive with their top pick since 2006, when they chose D’Brickshaw Ferguson sixth overall. He was the third lineman chosen in 2020, following fellow tackles Andrew Thomas (4th, NY Giants) and Jedrick Wills (10th, Cleveland). The Highland Springs, Virginia native is set to play a major role in the Jets’ offense, namely as a left tackle protecting the blindside of quarterback Sam Darnold.
Becton established himself as one of the most dominant linemen in the nation during his time as a Cardinal. He started 23 games at Louisville and later earned first-team All-ACC honors. The Cardinals surprised many with an 8-5 record last season, though Becton skipped the team’s Music City Bowl victory over Mississippi State.
“I want to start as a rookie and I want to make the playoffs. I would say those would be my rookie goals,” Becton said in a write-up by Eric Allen of NYJets.com. “I like to finish and I like to dominate in the run and in the pass. That’s what I’m going to bring him to the table.”
With the signing of Becton, third-round choice Ashtyn Davis remains the only draft pick that hasn’t inked his first green contract.
