New York Jets: 3 Trade targets with ties to new coaching staff

1. Richie James, Wide Receiver/Returner

First-year New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh spent the past four seasons as the defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers but he’s not the only staff member with ties to his former team. Saleh also brought over Mike LaFleur as the offensive coordinator after he spent the past four seasons as either the passing game coordinator, wide receivers coach, or a combination of the two in San Francisco.

LaFleur had to deal with a revolving door in the passing game with injuries constantly ravaging his receiving corps. That led to him having to count on many of his reserves to step up at a moment’s notice and one player who did that for him in 2020 was Richie James.

A former seventh-round pick out of Middle Tennessee, James was primarily used as a returner in 2018 and 2019 but then this past season, he had to play more snaps on offense — and he outperformed expectations.

James finished with 394 yards on 23 receptions with one touchdown. His biggest game was against the Green Bay Packers — who are head coached by LaFleur’s older brother. In that game, the third-year wideout had 184 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions, which was an average of nearly 20.5 yards per catch.

Even with his improvement this past season, the Niners could be convinced to move on from the young wideout and while he wouldn’t be a No. 1 option in New York, he could help LaFleur transition by giving him a player who understands his offense.

Plus, you can never have enough players who can flip the field position with their speed as both a receiver and return man.