AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Aaron Rodgers, Patriots

Dolphins

• Dolphins’ sixth-round TE Elijah Higgins said 28 teams indicated they wanted to move him from wide receiver to tight end, which is where he is lining up in Miami, per Barry Jackson.

Jets

Jets GM Joe Douglas said they had several “tenuous points” in negotiations to acquire Aaron Rodgers from the Packers but they were never at risk of walking away from the deal. 

“There were several points, I would say tenuous points, over the course from the Combine to now,” Douglas said via Pro Football Talk. “I can say never a point where we felt like we were just gonna turn our back and walk away. I felt like the conversations that [Packers G.M.] Brian [Gutekunst] and I were having were positive. And of course there was some sticking points here and there, but ultimately we were able to get on the same page. But through the process, we had decisions that we had to make, in terms of which avenue we were going to pursue. And so ultimately we made the decision to pursue our number one choice and follow it through, see it through.”

Douglas said they acknowledge the possibility of Green Bay holding onto Rodgers.

“That was certainly one scenario that they could have followed through on,” Douglas said. “Whether or not we thought it was real or not, our focus was always just, ‘Let’s get this player in the building.’ And we know there was things they could do, they knew there was some different avenues that we could possibly go down. But ultimately I think we were both working in good faith to get this deal done.”

Douglas said the Packers’ trade focused on playing time for Rodgers and New York eventually felt comfortable enough to get the deal done. 

“At the end of the day,” Douglas said. “Green Bay was very steadfast in that they wanted to make this about play-time only. And so I felt like, once we got into the weeds on what the play-time percentage could be, we got to a point where we felt comfortable pulling the trigger on the deal.”

Patriots

Former Patriots DB Devin McCourty has high hopes for WR Tyquan Thorton in his second year with the team.

“With his speed and his ability to get down the field horizontally and vertically, I think he definitely has a chance,” McCourty said, via Patriots Wire. “I’m so interested to see what he looks like in this offense now compared to last year where it was really just, ‘Run straight down, let’s run a shot play here and there.’”