Jets cornerback Azareye’h Thomas’ rookie season is over.
The Jets placed Thomas on injured reserve on Saturday, so he will miss the final four games of the regular season. Thomas, who was a third-round pick, suffered a shoulder injury in last Sunday’s loss ot the Dolphins.
Thomas had 22 tackles while starting five of the 12 games he played this season.
Linebacker Cam Jones was activated from injured reserve to fill the open spot on the team’s 53-man roster. Jones has played in six games for the Jets so far this season.
The Jets also elevated quarterback Adrian Martinez and defensive back Tre Brown from the practice squad. Martinez will back up Brady Cook with Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields sidelined by injuries.
The Jets are poised to break an NFL record that no team wants.
Through 13 games this season, the Jets’ defense has forced just two turnovers: A fumble recovery in Week Six against the Broncos, and a fumble recovery in Week 13 against the Falcons. The Jets’ defense still doesn’t have a single interception. Every other NFL team has at least five.
Unless they step up their game significantly in the final four games of the season, the Jets will break the current record for the fewest opponents turnovers in a season of seven, set by the 49ers in 2018.
The Jets’ failure to force turnovers is a major part of the reason they’re 3-10 this season, and a major disappointment for first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, who got the job because he was well regarded as a defensive coordinator with the Lions. Fewest takeaways in a season is not a record Glenn wants on his résumé, but it’s a record his team is poised to set.
On Thursday night, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins did it again to the Buccaneers, beating them for the third straight time since signing with Atlanta. And it was another Thursday night masterclass, following last year’s franchise-record 509 passing yards with 373 and three touchdowns in a 29-28 win.
The latest string of Cousins starts wasn’t supposed to happen. He returned to the role of QB1 after the Falcons lost Michael Penix Jr. for the season. And while Cousins’s performances in seven 2025 games have been mixed, there’s something to be said for showing up under the lights against a team that is trying to win the division crown.
Here’s the question for Cousins and the Falcons. What happens next year?
Under the four-year deal Cousins signed in 2024, the Falcons owe Cousins $45 million in 2026. Already, $10 million of it is fully guaranteed.
It’s widely believed he’ll be released. With the guaranteed payment subject to offset, Cousins will likely make more than $10 million on the open market. Especially after Thursday night, during which he showed he still can perform at a high level. That would allow the Falcons to avoid the extra $10 million they’re already required to pay him on the fifth day of the 2026 league year.
He has already earned a bronze bust in the broken-bank Hall of Fame, with $321 million in career earnings through 2025. And he has proven to be a shrewd businessman, even though his first foray into free agency was unavoidable; the Commanders were willing to tag him twice, but they weren’t inclined to offer him a commensurate long-term deal.
Cousins opted for the Falcons in large part because they put multi-year financial security on the table, with $90 million fully guaranteed over two seasons. (The Vikings wanted to go year to year.) With the Falcons unlikely to pay him another $45 million, which would push his three-year haul to $135 million, he’ll likely be a free agent, for the third time.
Cousins will be hitting the market at a very good time. The supply of veterans with starting experience won’t meet the demand. Someone will consider making a run at the 37-year-old.
Teams that will (or at least could) be looking for a potential QB1 include the Jets, Steelers, Browns, Bengals (if Joe Burrow’s recent comments portend an exit from Cincinnati), Colts, Raiders, Saints, and Cardinals.
Then there’s the Vikings, who need a viable veteran alternative to J.J. McCarthy, in the event the cork never comes out of the bottle for him. Would they want to bring Cousins back? Would he be inclined to return?
It’s also possible he’ll stay in Atlanta under a reworked contract, especially with the jury still out on Penix, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft.
However it plays out, Cousins will likely get paid out another sizable contract. While it surely won’t be market level, Justin Fields got $20 million per year from the Jets in 2025. That should be the floor for Cousins, who may eventually creep toward $400 million in career earnings.
Jets undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook will get the first start of his NFL career on Sunday against the Jaguars.
Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor have both been ruled out with injuries, which leaves Cook to start, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn announced today.
“Tyrod will be out, Justin will be out,” Glenn said. “That means Brady will be our starting quarterback this week. He’s gotten all the reps with the ones.”
Adrian Martinez, who just signed with the Jets on Wednesday, will back Cook up on Sunday.
Glenn said he’s been pleased with the way Cook has prepared himself to start and is confident Cook will develop into a good NFL starting quarterback.
Still, it’s highly unlikely that an undrafted rookie in a bad offense is going to look like a good starting quarterback in the first start of his career. The Jaguars are 13.5-point favorites against the Jets on Sunday in Jacksonville.
The Jets are keeping their starting center around.
Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, New York has agreed to a two-year contract extension with Josh Myers.
The initial numbers indicate Myers’ deal is worth $11 million with $6 million guaranteed.
Myers signed a one-year deal with the Jets in March after spending his first four seasons with Green Bay. He’s started all 13 games for New York so far in 2025, playing 100 percent of the club’s offensive snaps.
A second-round pick out of Ohio State in 2021, Myers has started all of his 69 career games played.
