Rich Cimini of ESPN reports that the Jets have been showing interest in pass rushers at the Combine, specifically Dante Fowler Jr, Ezekiel Ansah and Preston Smith.
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering that edge rusher has been a major need for the Jets the past few years.
Fowler, Ansah and Brown should all be in position to reach the open market and could command big money, given the number of teams in the market for help at the position.
Ansah, 29, was taken with the No. 5 overall pick by the Lions back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $18.595 million rookie contract before the Lions picked up his fifth-year option last May.
Ansah made a base salary $12.7 million for the 2017 season before the Lions used the franchise tag on him last year that cost them around $17.5 million fully guaranteed for the 2018 season.
Ansah is once again in line to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
In 2018, Ansah appeared in seven games for the Lions and recorded 11 tackles and four sacks.
Smith, 26, is a former second-round pick of the Redskins back in 2015. He planed out the final year of his rookie contract and is now in line to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career.
In 2018, Smith appeared in all 16 games for the Redskins and recorded 53 tackles, four sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and three pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 19 edge rusher out of 103 qualifying players.
Fowler, 24, is a former first-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2015. He was traded to the Rams last year for a 2019 third-round pick and a 2020 fifth-round pick.
Fowler played out the final year of his four-year, $23.5 million rookie contract and because the Jaguars declined his fifth-year option, he’s now in position to test the open market.
In 2018, Fowler appeared in 15 games for the Jaguars and Rams and recorded 30 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, two recoveries and a pass defense.
We have all of them featured in our Top 100 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.
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