The Jets could be seeking one or two running backs this offseason, as Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Stevan Ridley are set to become free agents. Responding to a letter from a reader, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini said Eagles running back DeMarco Murray could be an option for the Gang Green.
Murray’s cap number isn’t necessarily prohibitive, it’s similar to Brandon Marshall‘s cap number when he was dealt to New York. However, the $14.5MM salary between 2016 and 2017 could make the team think twice about acquiring the All-Pro, as they’d probably be able to afford Ivory and Powell for a similar price.
Overall, Cimini doesn’t believe the Jets will invest that kind of money into one running back. The writer says the team should re-sign Ivory, draft a running back in the third or fourth round, and then use the extra money at other positions.
Let’s look at some more notes out of the AFC…
- Patriots coach Bill Belichick added receiver Leonard Hankerson to the roster on Wednesday, and the logic behind the move was rather straight forward. “He’s been a good player and he was available,” Belichick said (via Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com). “It’s not that frequent that you see players like that available at this time of year, so we claimed him.”
- Hankerson, meanwhile, is doing his best to learn the Patriots’ complicated offense. “It’s a totally different system than what I was in, so you’ve got to come in and work hard,” he said (via Petraglia). “You’ve got to get the playbook down, you’ve got to know what you’re doing, and you’ve got to be on top of your stuff. The most important thing is just knowing what you’re doing: Knowing where to line up, knowing how to get back to the locker room, learn how everything is done around here.”
- Chargers defensive lineman Corey Liuget has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and the 25-year-old acknowledge that he played much of the season with a knee injury. “It was not the season I planned,” Liuget told Tom Krasovic of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It was nowhere near what I wanted.”