Former Jets offensive linemen Nick Mangold has come back to the team, inking a one-day deal with the team and tweeting out that he’s walking away from the game.
I DECLARE RETIREMENNNTTTTTTT!
I will be signing a one day deal with @nyjets next week so I can retire a Jet.
Thank you to all!
J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets! pic.twitter.com/f7j52ZdIy0
— Nick Mangold (@nickmangold) April 17, 2018
The Jets have a new kicker today, as reports are the team was awarded kicker Nick Rose from the Chargers.
Rose split last season between Washington and Los Angeles and played 10 games overall on the year. He was 10-of-11 on field goals and 18-of-20 on extra points in eight games with the Redskins and 1-of-3 on field goals and 5-of-6 on extra points in two Chargers appearances.
The Jets signed Cairo Santos earlier this offseason. Barring other moves, it looks like he and Rose will compete to replace Chandler Catanzaro, who signed a three-year deal with the Buccaneers after a solid 2017 season with the Jets.
Source: The #Jets were awarded K Nick Rose from the #Chargers.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 16, 2018
The Jets continued to stay active in free agency with the addition of veteran inside linebacker Kevin Minter and wide receiver Charles Johnson.
Minter has familiarity with Jets head coach Todd Bowles as the former started his career in Arizona and appeared in 28 games in 2013-14 when the latter was the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator. A second-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2013 NFL Draft, the LSU product has played in 70 contests and made 44 starts in five pro seasons.
Johnson, who inked a deal with Carolina last March, was waived/injured by the Panthers on July 25, 2017 after undergoing surgery on his right knee.
In three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-16, the 6’2”, 217-pound Johnson totaled 60 receptions for 834 yards while averaging 13.9 yards a catch. Johnson led Vikings wideouts with a 15.3 yards-per-catch average during the 2014 campaign.
Originally a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Grand Valley State product spent the preseason with the Packers before joining the Pack’s practice squad and eventually was signed to Cleveland’s 53-man roster in Octobe
r.
Versatile offensive lineman Brent Qvale has signed his restricted free agency tender to remain with the Jets, Randy Lange of Newyorkjets.com reports.
Qvale is beginning his fourth full NFL season after signing with the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska after the 2014 draft and increasing his on-field profile season by season. He spent his entire rookie season on the Green & White practice squad. In 2015 as a first-year man, he played in 16 games with 31 offensive snaps and made his first start as a blocking TE in Game 8 against Jacksonville.
In 2016, Qvale played in 12 games with five starts and 347 offensive plays. Last season he saw action in all 16 games with six starts and upped his play counts to 394 on offense and 114 on specials. Of his 12 pro starts, seven have come at right tackle, one at right guard and four at tight end.
The Jets continued to bolster their depth along the offensive line with the re-signing of Dakota Dozier, Eric Allen of Newyorkjets.com reports.
The 6’4″, 313-pound Dozier, a fourth-round selection of the Green & White in the 2014 draft, set career highs last season with 14 games played and three starts. Towards the end of the 2017 campaign, head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that Dozier was one of the most improved players on the roster.
Entering his fifth season, Dozier has appeared in 32 games and made five starts. He is another player with position flexibility that can suit up at guard as well as center.
The Jets have re-signed tackle Ben Ijalana, who became a street free agent last month, Randy Lange of Newyorkjets.com reports.
The Jets got him off waivers from Indianapolis at the start of the 2013 season. He played in only three games from 2013-15 but then was pressed into duty in 2016, playing in all 16 games for the first time as a pro and starting 13, the first five starts coming at right tackle and the last eight at LT.
Ijalana didn’t play nearly as much last season as he did on his 868 offensive snaps in ’16. He got in for 11 games and 56 offensive snaps plus 42 more on special teams. His greatest participation came with his 41 snaps in the season finale at New England.
Ijalana, the Colts’ second-round pick (49th overall) in the ’11 draft, played his high school football in South Jersey at Rancocas Valley HS and his college ball at Villanova.
The Jets have signed free agent tight end Bucky Hodges, Ethan Greenberg of Newyorkjets.com reports.
Hodges joins the Green & White’s TE position, which already lists Eric Tomlinson, Neal Sterling, Jordan Leggett, Chris Gragg, and Clive Walford, acquired on waivers from Oakland on Monday.
Hodges (6’6″, 257) entered the NFL as Minnesota’s sixth-round pick (No. 201 overall) in the 2017 draft out of Virginia Tech after posting 133 receptions for 1,747 yards (13.1 yards/catch) and 20 touchdowns in three seasons with the Hokies. At the 2017 NFL Combine he was timed in 4.57 seconds in the 40 and had a 39″ vertical jump and 11’2″ broad jump, both tops among tight ends last year.
He was waived injured by the Vikings last September, then had a six-week stay on Carolina’s practice squad before he was released.
While the Browns are meeting with Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen is meeting with the Jets early this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports via Nick Shook of NFL.com.
Allen’s visit undoubtedly won’t be the only quarterback meeting for the Jets, who moved up to No. 3 in a trade with Indianapolis, presumably to position themselves to select a signal-caller.
April 17th, 2018 
Matt Loede 
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