A pending New York Jets free agent could be staying inside the AFC East this offseason.
NFL Insider Aaron Wilson shared on social media that defensive lineman Carl Lawson had a visit with the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday, April 10.
Injuries Robbed the Jets of the Lawson Free Agent Vision
The green and white inked Lawson to a three-year deal for $45 million in 2021.
During that first offseason months after he signed, the Jets thought they hit a home run. The former Auburn product had never recorded a double-digit sack season, but the team was betting on the analytics.
Lawson looked like the second coming of Lawrence Taylor and a few Jets staffers described him to me over text as, “unblockable.”
Before Jets fans got a chance to see that during the regular season, Lawson blew out his Achilles during a joint practice against the Green Bay Packers. Lawson missed all of 2021 and played in 2022 with a compromised Achilles due to another injury.
Despite that additional injury, Lawson ended up appearing in all 17 games in 2022 and recorded seven sacks.
Last season he only suited up in six games, didn’t make a start, and failed to record a single sack for the first time in his career.
Lawson, 28, hurt his back during training camp and was forced to miss a month. The talented pass rusher was never the same for the rest of the year.
Comp Pick Bingo Is on the Table for the Jets
Some Jets fans may be saying to themselves, why the heck do we care about Lawson’s free-agent pursuits?
Well, it’s an important piece to the NFL comp pick bingo game that teams play.
This offseason the green and white received three compensatory selections for the free agents they lost the previous year. All of the picks came late on day three (a sixth and two sevenths).
New York has a chance to get a pick on the higher end in 2025. That is because the Jets lost defensive lineman Bryce Huff to the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year deal for $51.1 million.
However, because of all of the additions this offseason, New York needs some of its own pending free agents to sign “compensatory eligible contracts before April 28th” with other teams to make that a reality.
With Justin Hardee signing with the Cleveland Browns, the Jets only need one more unrestricted free agent to sign before it would “re-open the 2025 4th-rounder for Huff,” per Brad Spielberger.
That makes this Lawson news incredibly important to the Jets because the clock is ticking. If we make it past April 28, the Jets would lose out on that potential fourth-round draft choice if another player doesn’t ink a deal.
Spielberger said the other Jets free agent to keep an eye out for is former first-round offensive tackle Mekhi Becton.
One other name that is also worth monitoring is free agent safety Ashtyn Davis. He is seeking a starting opportunity in free agency. So far it’s been crickets, but Davis is holding out hope that opportunity will present itself. If it doesn’t, he could re-sign in New York.
