The New York Jets and Carolina Panthers are set to face off in joint practices this week in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
It’s a golden opportunity for both sides to not just get a good look at how their roster stacks up to other teams, but how players on the roster bubble could inevitably fit with their current one. Poaching players off practice squads is a common occurrence in the NFL with the amount of injuries teams suffer in a season. Another common occurrence is teams bringing in recently released players they saw play well in joint practices against them.
Like the Jets, Carolina is coming into joint work with a new type of swagger from this offseason. A new head coach, coupled with the number one overall pick at quarterback has fans down in the Carolinas finally hoping that the franchise has found a team to root for after the Cam Newton era.
The Panthers also have plenty of good players that just so happen to find themselves on the roster bubble. Here are five names the Jets could consider after joint practices this week, and cut down in three weeks.
WR – Shi Smith
If the Panthers decide to go with six wide receivers, Smith becomes irrelevant to this topic. If they go with just five though, the Jets could certainly use more depth at wide receiver. Smith is a sixth-round pick from the 2021 draft and has averaged 14 yards per reception on under 30 career catches. His production may be small, but he’s quick and a solid route-runner. If the Jets want to let Jason Brownlee or Malik Taylor sit on the practice squad, yet still carry six receivers, bringing in someone like Smith would make a lot of sense.
LB – Kamu Grugier-Hill
Grugier-Hill is a swiss-army knife of linebackers. He’s played at almost every position and is still athletic enough to be a sideline-to-sideline player. The weakest position group (depth-wise) for the Jets is easily at linebacker and he could absolutely step in and provide the team with more experience and veteran leadership. This move makes almost too much sense. Kamu was in Philadelphia when Joe Douglas was there and could be a perfect plug-and-play for the weakside linebacker role if the team doesn’t like what they have seen from Jamien Sherwood.
Eric Rowe
Rowe has the versatility at both corner and safety to be an excellent depth player for any team he is on. Rowe’s experience at corner could give the Jets a backup to Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed which few teams have. At safety, he could be another piece to the group and may even be better than Adrian Amos. A lot of people get on Rowe for his disappointing Super Bowl performance in New England, or the struggles he had late in Miami but this is a solid player that could be an asset to the Jets if he’s taken off the Panthers roster for any reason.
Justin McCray
New York’s need for interior offensive linemen may not be as strong as it was last season, but it’s still a quiet concern. Should Alijah Vera-Tucker get hurt again, or Laken Tomlinson go down, the team needs to have competent backups that could step in and do the job well. Justin McCray may be one of those players if he’s released by Carolina. He has 29 starts over his six-year NFL career and understands what is expected of him at all times. If he does a good job against the Jets’ defensive line, particularly Quinnen Williams, that’s enough grounds to give him a look following cut down day.
Cameron Erving
Not many available tackles have over 50 starts in their career. That is what Cameron Erving might be able to bring to the table if he’s waived by the Panthers at some point this preseason. New York’s struggles at tackle are well-documented throughout training camp as well. If Erving plays well, and somehow finds himself on the cutting block, the Jets could absolutely use him as an upgrade to Billy Turner as a swing tackle. Obviously, a lot of the Jets’ interest in tackles would hinge on what they have seen from Mekhi Becton, but the obvious call here is that they’ll need depth and Erving could provide that.
