Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\nCisco was not too far removed from the 2022 and 2023 seasons where he had seven interceptions combined.\u00a0 However, Cisco struggled out of the gate in coverage, was a very poor tackler and only gave the Jets eight games after a torn pectoral muscle ended his season.<\/p>\n
Adams continued to be a very inconsistent player under Glenn that he was under Robert Saleh.\u00a0 While he did have five PBU\u2019s, ranking him 13th out of all safeties, he also allowed a passer rating of 100.5 to opposing quarterbacks.\u00a0 He was one of many culprits on a defense that did not force one interception last season.<\/p>\n
Out of this entire group, only Moore, the team\u2019s fourth-round pick, is expected to return next season.\u00a0 Moore played well at times, but also had his rookie moments.\u00a0 He shouldn\u2019t be guaranteed a starting spot in 2026, but I would be surprised if he wasn\u2019t one of the team\u2019s starting safeties.<\/p>\n
How Can The Jets Improve This Position?<\/p>\n
Free Agency<\/p>\n
There will be plenty of players available in free agency that could instantly make this position stronger and improve a very weak secondary.\u00a0 Chicago\u2019s Kevin Byard and the Rams Kam Curl are arguably the two top options available but will have plenty of suitors as they look to cash in on big contracts. Seattle\u2019s Coby Bryant, the Colts Nick Cross and Philadelphia\u2019s Reed Blankenship could also be on the Jets radar.<\/p>\n
For a team that badly needs a safety that can force turnovers, Byard would certainly be the player to aggressively pursue.\u00a0 He led the league last season with seven picks and opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 85.3 against him.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be 33 years old this August and he may prefer to stay in Chicago or go to another team that will be in the hunt for the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
Curl has been widely linked to the Jets, but he could also return to the Rams as they have about $45 million in cap space, which is plenty of money to bring him back on an extension.\u00a0 Curl was terrific last season with two interceptions, a forced fumble and 87 tackles.\u00a0 Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of only 82.4 against him and he finished with a PFF grade of 73.1, ranking him 16th out of 98 safeties.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Draft<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s Caleb Downs is the clear-cut best safety in this draft class, but it\u2019s highly unlikely the Jets will select him with the second overall pick.\u00a0 However, the Jets may look to trade down with a team that wants one of the many pass rushers who will be available and if they succeed, Downs could be the player they target.\u00a0 Downs had two interceptions last season along with 44 solo tackles and opposing quarterbacks had a combined passer rating of 47.9 against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Jets will definitely address safety in the draft during Day 2 or 3 and some of the other options available include LSU\u2019s A.J. Haucy, Oregon\u2019s Dillon Thieneman and Toledo\u2019s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.<\/p>\n
Way Too Early 2026 Prediction<\/p>\n
The safety position will look completely different compared to last season.\u00a0 Most of the current players on the roster will certainly not be back, but it\u2019s possible the Jets bring back Cisco on another one-year contract sensing he may not have much of a market due to his injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Jets have plenty of cap space to improve the defense but it\u2019s too early to tell how much they choose to invest in the secondary.\u00a0 They could spend big on either Byard or Curl and pair them with Moore.\u00a0 Kansas City\u2019s Bryan Cook is also an option and if the Jets want to bring back an old friend, they could look to sign Ashtyn Davis for depth.\u00a0 Davis spent last season in Miami under new defensive coordinator Brian Duker and he was always a bit of an underappreciated player when he was in New York.<\/p>\n
While Downs will be tempting to draft, he is a definite reach with the second overall pick.\u00a0 That selection should be used for a pass rusher or a wide receiver.\u00a0 This is a pretty deep draft for safeties and the position can definitely be addressed with one of their Day 2 or 3 picks.<\/p>\n
For a defense that was awful at forcing turnovers as well as tackling, all options need to be on the table.\u00a0 I expect the Jets to add at least one free agent, but I don\u2019t expect them to overpay to improve the position.\u00a0 They\u2019ll bank on Moore to take a big step in his second season and add depth through the draft.\u00a0 After last year’s terrible season, they can only go up from here. With Glenn calling the plays on defense and what’s sure to be better personnel on the field, this should be a much improved unit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 25, 2026, 7:45 a.m. ET The 2026 offseason has officially begun and the New York Jets will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[679,9,11,10,1673,1674,948,53633,60690,3717,60692,33890,950,1675,932,947,691,1947,3697,949,60691,682],"class_list":["post-144764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-accessfree","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-sstssportsnfljets","tag-sstsnjets","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagandre-cisco","tag-tagashtyn-davis","tag-tagbig-ten-conference-football","tag-tagisaiah-oliver","tag-tagjacksonville-jaguars","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnew-york-jets","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsmg-listicle","tag-tagsport-scores-statistics","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtony-adams","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}