The New York Jets have found some additional help at the wide receiver position in veteran wideout Rishard Matthews.
The New York Jets are seriously depleted in their wide receiving corps with Terrelle Pryor’s release (due to a groin tear) and Quincy Enunwa is out for a month (ankle sprain). So the Jets decided to sign wide receiver Rishard Matthews according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Matthews has had a career renaissance with the Tennessee Titans over the last two years:
- 2016: 65 receptions for 945 yards and nine touchdowns
- 2017: 53 receptions for 795 yards and four touchdowns
The yards per reception are fantastic (over 14 yards in each of the last two seasons). Plus the best part of this scenario is the Jets got him for nothing more than a financial commitment.
The Jets don’t need to part with valuable picks while other teams in the league decided to go for a more expensive band-aid. It took a 2019 first round draft selection from the Dallas Cowboys to pry Amari Cooper from Jon Gruden’s Oakland Raiders
The Jets made that decision back in 2009 when they acquired Braylon Edwards from the Cleveland Browns for third and fifth round draft selections. The only difference between that team and this team is their status. 2009 Jets were a contender for a Super Bowl, the 2018 Jets are a contender for a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft.
The only potential issue with the Rishard signing is Matthews requested his release from the Titans due to lack of a prominent role. If you’re the Jets you do not want a diva on the team negatively affecting Sam Darnold and his development.
Although his role should be pretty clear, Matthews should be directly behind Robby and Jermaine, which means there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for Rishard to eat.
The Jets are left with Robby Anderson and Jermaine Kearse as the main options with a couple of special teamers and journeymen filling out the roster. They needed a guy like Matthews in the worst of ways.
