
Jets DB Minkah Fitzpatrick talked about being one of the pieces that will hopefully reset the culture under HC Aaron Glenn.
“I think when you bring in guys like that into a football program, I think there’s a level of calm and a level of discipline and not being scared of the unknown,” Fitzpatrick said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “That’s extremely important because when things go bad, people want to press the red button and completely change how to do things.”
Cimini added that K Nick Folk wanted to remain in New York, Atlanta offered him a two-year deal versus a one-year deal that the Jets presented to him.
After Folk signed with Atlanta, the Jets responded by signing K Cade York.
New England has been among the biggest spenders thus far in free agency, adding eight players with an average annual value just under $8 million. New Patriots S Kevin Byard said this was his top landing spot on the market because of the excitement about QB Drake Maye.
“An ascending quarterback; it’s one of the hardest things to get right in the NFL, and everybody is trying to do that. New England has it right with Drake Maye. I’m excited to be able to play with him,” Byard said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I had basically two teams I wanted to play for this offseason. With the year we had in Chicago, that was going to be the first option. Once I saw that wasn’t going to work out, it was New England. … Drake Maye is a phenomenal player. I’ve heard nothing but great things about him from multiple people in the organization even before I got here.”
Newly signed FB Reggie Gilliam was surprised at Maye’s stature and compared him to his last QB, Josh Allen.
“When I walked in, I saw him for the first time and I was like, ‘Wow, he’s bigger than I expected,'” Gilliam said. “[Drake] has a lot of the same qualities as Josh. I believe in him a ton and am anxious to see what he can do.”
Alijah Vera-Tucker had to watch Maye from the sidelines three times over the last two seasons during his days with the Jets. Vera-Tucker is even more excited to play with Maye because of how others speak of his character.
“I’m really excited, man. Obviously playing against him, I’ve seen what he can do. Besides being a great football player, I’ve heard he’s a great guy, too, able to connect with his teammates. You want to come in and protect a guy like that,” Vera-Tucker added.
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