New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.
New York Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner wants quarterback Aaron Rodgers to have more weapons at wide receiver next fall and he has two specific players in mind.
Rodgers, of course, was limited to four snaps in his first season with the Jets after suffering an Achilles injury in Week 1. That means he had no chance to make a meaningful on-field connection with star wideout Garrett Wilson in the 2022 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year’s second pro season.
Despite receiving throws from three different ineffective signal-callers following Rodgers’ injury, the former 10th overall pick still managed to produce his second straight campaign with over 1,000 receiving yards.
Catching passes from the likes of Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian and Zach Wilson, the Ohio State product ended up leading the team by a wide margin in targets (168), receptions (95) and receiving yards (1,042) for the second consecutive year and had three touchdowns as well.
Veteran wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb (both of whom left the Green Bay Packers to team up with Rodgers) didn’t find the same success as Wilson.
Lazard finished the season with just 23 catches for 311 yards and one touchdown in 14 games, all of which were career lows outside of his one-game rookie campaign. Cobb ended the year with career worsts in receptions (five), receiving yards (39) and targets (17).
Both Calvin Ridley of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals are entering unrestricted free agency this offseason and could be significant upgrades for the Jets on offense.
The pair are still on the right side of 30 (Ridley is 29 and Higgins is 25) and would be solid No. 2 options behind Wilson. They’ve had experience working behind Pro Bowl talents as well such as Julio Jones and Ja’Marr Chase, respectively.
Ridley finished the 2023 season with 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns, which is even more impressive considering he missed the entire 2022 campaign due to a suspension.
Higgins is coming off a down year so could come at a discount, plus his numbers weren’t terrible. The Clemson product was limited to 12 games and ended the season second on the Bengals in touchdown catches (five), third in targets (76) and receiving yards (656) and fourth in receptions (42).
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