The Jets have remade their cornerback corps this offseason by signing Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine, something that might not have been necessary had Dee Milliner’s first two NFL seasons gone a bit better.
Injuries hampered Milliner heading into his rookie season in 2013 and he struggled to fulfill his responsibilities on the field once the season got underway. A torn Achilles wiped out his second season after three games, leaving the Jets without much reason to count on him as a major contributor to their defense in 2015.
It’s also reportedly led some teams to see if they could acquire Milliner on the cheap. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports the Jets have received inquiries about trading Milliner from other teams, but that the Jets have told them that they aren’t willing to deal their 2013 first-round pick for a mid- or late-round draft pick at the moment.
The plan at the moment is for the new coaching staff to have a look at Milliner before deciding on next steps, although it’s not clear when he’ll be cleared to resume doing football work and could miss the offseason program. If they like what they see, Milliner could see a fair amount of time as a fourth cornerback -- Todd Bowles used six defensive backs often in Arizona -- and the Jets would likely prefer to see that, rather than a fifth-round pick, be the return on their investment.