The Jets had a chance to do something simple and sensible at center this offseason. Instead, they watched the market thin out and left themselves with a problem that looks bigger now than it did a few months ago.
Ethan Pocic’s move to the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year deal worth up to $4.5 million put that reality in sharper focus. Pocic had reportedly been expected to be ready for training camp after an Achilles injury, and while there’s no way to know whether New York was ever truly in the mix, his departure leaves the Jets staring at a center situation that feels alarmingly thin for 2026.
Pocic would have made sense for a team like this. He’s been a solid starter for the Cleveland Browns over the past few seasons, and at minimum he could have pushed the backup group.
At best, he might have been a real upgrade in the starting lineup. With him off the board, the free agent pool at center is once again bare.
That matters because the Jets are set to go into 2026 with one of the weakest center rooms in the league.
Josh Myers is penciled in as the starter, and his track record doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Over the past four years, he’s been closer to the lower end of the starter spectrum than the upper end, and 2025 didn’t change that after he joined the Jets on a one-year, $2 million deal to back up.
In 17 starts, Myers ranked 33rd out of 34 qualified centers in Pro Football Focus’ overall grade at 52.9. His 51.7 run-blocking grade was the third-worst, he allowed 28 pressures, which was the third-most, and his five penalties tied for the most.
The depth behind him is even shakier. Xavier Newman has never started an NFL game at center, and across four seasons he has logged just 36 snaps there. All of those came in a 2023 game against the Giants, when he gave up five pressures and posted a 28.5 pass-blocking grade at PFF.
This is not a sturdy setup. It’s the kind of weakness that can drag down an otherwise promising offensive line, even one that returns ascending young players at the other four spots.
The obvious question is why the Jets were so passive here.
One possible answer is continuity. Their Week 1 offensive line from last season stayed together for all 17 games, which is rare in the NFL.
They also swapped out left guard John Simpson for Dylan Parham, but the other four starters are back. That gives New York a starting five with a real chance to bring unusual continuity into Nashville.
There’s logic to that. Offensive line play is built on communication and chemistry, and those things get easier when the same group keeps working together.
The Jets clearly valued Myers enough to extend him before the 2025 season ended, giving him a two-year, $11 million deal with $6.2 million guaranteed in mid-December. At that point, the starting five had already logged 14 starts together, so it’s fair to think the team was leaning into the idea of keeping the group intact.
That approach has merit. Continuity matters.
But continuity can’t be the whole argument when the talent level is this shaky. Myers has spent four straight seasons looking like a fringe starter or backup, and the Jets themselves effectively said as much when they signed him to that one-year, $2 million deal on the 2025 market. That’s not the profile of a player you lock into as your answer at center, especially when you have draft capital and cap room to bring in competition or a clear upgrade.
And continuity doesn’t explain the backup situation at all.
Newman is not a dependable second option, and the Jets haven’t added a single center this offseason. Not a veteran.
Not an undrafted rookie. Not even a low-cost flier to give them some insurance if Myers goes down.
That’s where the whole continuity case falls apart. Even if the Jets wanted to keep the same group together, they still had no real excuse not to add someone who could beat out Newman and at least make Myers feel some pressure in camp.
The options were there. Eleven pure centers were drafted, including eight on Day 3, when the Jets had four picks and entered the day with five. There were also veteran centers with real starting experience who came cheap in free agency: Lloyd Cushenberry, with 80 starts and $1.3 million guaranteed; Luke Fortner, with 44 starts and $1.3 million guaranteed; and Matt Hennessy, with 24 starts and $1.3 million guaranteed.
Nobody is saying the Jets needed to swing for Tyler Linderbaum or spend a first-round pick on the position. They’ve already invested enough elsewhere on the offensive line that they don’t need a star at center for the unit to work.
What they do need is competence. Right now, they don’t have it.
The Jets appear to believe continuity can make up for Myers’ limitations. That idea is about to get tested. And if there’s one thing that looks even worse than the starting situation, it’s the fact that they’re one injury away from a practice-squad-level center handling the snaps.
General manager Darren Mougey has had a solid process through the 2026 offseason so far, but the complete lack of movement at center is hard to make sense of.
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