On the eve of the NFL's free agency negotiation period, the Jets retained one of their key homegrown players when they re-signed Mike linebacker Jamien Sherwood.
Last season, Sherwood stepped in for injured defensive captain C.J. Mosley at middle linebacker. In 17 games (16 starts), he tied for the NFL lead in solo tackles (95) and was tied for fourth with a career-high total takedowns (154). He added 10 TFL, 3 PD and a pair of sacks.
True to his word during his introductory news conference in January, GM Darren Mougey locked down one the Jets' own, signing Sherwood, 25, to a three-year, $45 million deal ($30 million guaranteed), according to multiple published reports. Sherwood who was due to become an attractive unrestricted free agent.
"Our philosophy will be to draft, develop, keep our own, and be disciplined and strategic in free agency," Mougey said when he and HC Aaron Glenn were introduced in mid-January as the new leaders of the team's football operation. "There is no more important part of any sports organization than the players. Period. It's about the players, and we have a good foundation of players here right now that we're going to continue to add to and we're going to give those players everything they need to be successful and reach their potential."
After three seasons in college at Auburn, Sherwood (6-2, 216) was selected by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft (No. 146 overall) and was instantly penciled in as one of the team's linebackers of the future. The Jensen Beach, FL, native sustained a torn Achilles tendon in Week 7 of his rookie season and was placed on injured reserve after appearing in five games and finishing with 15 tackles.
Over the next two seasons he saw action mainly on special teams as Mosley and Quincy Williams earned the lion's share of the snaps at linebacker. That, however, all changed early in the 2024 season when Mosley sustained a toe injury in Week 2 and was later sidelined for the rest of the season with a neck injury. No. 44 seamlessly stepped into the Mike role as the on-field defensive play-caller. He also led the team with 1,178 total snaps (1065, second on defense to Quincy Williams; and 113 on special teams), according to Pro-Football-Reference.
Sherwood stepped into the breach, and his play on the field and positive voice in the locker room earned him recognition from his teammates when, in a vote by the players, he won the Curtis Martin Team MVP Award.
"That's crazy because you got Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, C.J. [Mosley], Quincy [Williams], Garrett [Wilson], Quinnen [Wiliams]," Sherwood said in early January. "To be voted by guys like that means the world to me. I'd say it wasn't just my on-the-field presence, but off the field as well, in the locker room, in the cafeteria, in the meeting rooms.
"Obviously this season hasn't gone the way we wanted to, but finding some type of positivity when we walk into this building just so that we can have a good day, so that we can look forward to Sunday to being one of the better days of this year."
After his fourth season in the league, Sherwood was one of the Jets' young, core players eligible to seek a new address in free agency. With the negotiation period set to start on Monday, Mougey kept a key piece.
"Confidence is the main thing," Sherwood said before the team's season finale. "I say once a man finds his confidence, he's hard to stop. All that stuff that I studied from down-and-distance to formation, recognition to just learning and understanding the game, all I needed was the confidence. Trusting my preparation, trusting my technique and just going out there and doing it."
He added: "Every play I get or chance I get, the next play is never promised and, you know, nothing's ever promised. I go out there and strain my hardest and I do it for my teammates, coaches and everybody in the stands, my family as well. That's just a testament to who I am as a person.
"I want to do nothing but win. And I'll do whatever it takes."
Keeping Sherwood in the fold gives Glenn, the Lions' former defensive coordinator, a steady and emerging arrow in his quiver as the Jets continue to build an elite defense.
