New York Jets: Grading the C.J. Mosley signing in free agency

The New York Jets have made another move to enhance the middle of the field defensively. This time, they went out and signed star linebacker C.J. Mosley.

The move to sign C.J. Mosley comes after the New York Jets already signed former Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Anthony Barr at the end of Day 1 in NFL free agency. Mosley will reportedly be getting a five-year, $85 million (per the New York Post), one of the largest deals in NFL history for a linebacker.

However, his impact on the defense as a whole certainly makes him worth the money, and the Jets, per overthecap.com, had the second-most money to spend. While they’re limiting themselves on cap space by paying such big money to linebackers, they have now put together one of the league’s best linebacker cores.

Mosley was dominant last season for the Baltimore Ravens, helping lead their league-best defense. After all, the Ravens basically won the AFC North solely based on their formidable defense.

Robert Mays of The Ringer named Mosley one of the best defensive options this free agency. At the same time, they valued him at just over $11 million per year. Instead, Mosley signed for nearly $20. How do we grade the value the Jets will get in return for Mosley?

The Jets have their quarterback of the future on a rookie contract. While they still need threats on the offensive side of the ball, they opted to transform their team into more a Chicago Bears-style of play and develop a dominant defense. That will all start with recently Mosley and Barr.

Mosley is consistent, efficient and young. At just 26 years old, Mosley has several prime seasons left after being a first-round selection back in the 2014 NFL Draft. Since then, he’s recorded four seasons of 100+ combined tackles in his mere five professional seasons.

The most important part of Mosley’s game is his consistency. In professional football, staying on the field is almost more difficult than actually playing. For Mosley, during his five professional seasons, he’s missed just three games.

The Jets need that type of consistency on a defense that was bottom-five in opponent’s points per game last season. Also being in the bottom half of the league in opponent’s yards per game, they should see improvements in both those following the signings of Mosley and Barr.

This is a big-time loss for Baltimore who will try to make a run in an AFC North that continues to grow weaker. For New York, this is the continuing of their forming one of the best defenses in all the NFL. Although they paid a high price for Mosley, the Jets won this deal.