The Jets have officially signed their day three picks. Fourth round tight end Trevon Wesco, fifth round linebacker Blake Cashman, and sixth round cornerback Blessaun Austin have signed their rookie contracts. All three players are in town for the team’s rookie orientation so today made as sense as any time to get these signed. These rookie deals are formalities. They are largely paint by numbers. If you cannot get your rookie class in camp on time you are doing something wrong, especially with late round picks. I can’t remember any holdouts ever coming from day three prospects. With these signings, the Jets have three of their Draft picks yet to get under contract. Quinnen Williams, Jachai Polite, and Chuma Edoga still will need to sign their deals. There is plenty of time between now and training camp to get these done. The sooner they are all completed and signed, the better.<doc-sep>It might be some time before we see the Jets’ 2019 draft picks hit the practice field. In lieu of a traditional rookie minicamp this weekend, Jets’ coach Adam Gase will keep his young players in the classroom for something he calls “rookie orientation.” This isn’t a new concept for Gase. He did something similar during his three seasons in Miami, and Gase has two good reasons for the nonconventional method of offseason training. The first, Gase says, is to avoid unnecessary injuries while flooding his young players with new information. “Most of these guys haven’t played since December, maybe November,” Gase said, per NJ.com. “To drag them out there, run them around – I guess I’ve seen too many times where you lose a first-round draft pick to injury. You want to get them caught up as fast as possible and when you go install, practice, correct, another install – by the time you get done with the weekend, they have no clue what happened.” This makes a lot of sense. These rookies endured a litany of draft preparation workouts all spring – from combine drills to pro days – and haven’t had a real opportunity to heal their bodies. Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake, who played for Gase in Miami, told NFL.com in 2016 that the weekend helped him rest. “This weekend gives our bodies a chance to recover from the grind up to this point,” Drake said. “We can focus on the playbook, recover our bodies and get ready for when the veterans do come in.” If the Jets threw the playbook at their young players, they could easily hurt themselves trying to impress the coaches with concepts they may not fully understand. It happened in 2016 when the Jaguars’ No. 3 overall pick, Dante Fowler, suffered a season-ending ACL injury minutes into his first practice with the team. With an entire summer of practices still to come, it’s a much safer route to slowly indoctrinate players still learning the ways of the football world. That plays into Gase’s second reason for an orientation weekend. Gase wants to spend time educating the rookies – both with the playbook and about living the life of a professional football player. “We do all the things you want to do with rookies to kind of get them going in a real-life setting,” Gase said. “A lot of these guys, they went from high school – they were home – to college – where everybody does everything for them. Now they’re on their own. So you have to educate them about, ‘This is how it’s going to be and you’re on your own and you’re going to have to pay bills and you’re going to have to get your own food.’ There’s a lot of things that guys don’t know about.” Football players know football, so taking time to teach them the things they don’t yet know is smart for Gase and the Jets to ensure their players are ready for everything the NFL will throw at them. There’s a high probability most of these players haven’t seen the amount of money they’re about to make, nor will they understand the new wrinkles of life that come with it. Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard thoroughly enjoyed these life lessons while Gase coached him. In the same 2016 NFL.com article, he said the orientation prepared him mentally for the rigors of the league. “I’ve got to know what I’m doing on the field before I can actually do it,” Howard said. “Preparing mentally is going to be very important. I don’t want to be lost when the veterans get here, so I’m glad they’re getting us ready this way.” In Miami, Gase’s orientations included events like one-on-one meetings with coaches, blood testing, playbook walkthroughs, conditioning exercises and guest speakers. The Jets aren’t the only teams to hold a different type of rookie minicamp. Gase obviously did this in Miami, but the Rams and Jaguars have also held similar orientations in lieu of real practices. There is a lot riding on this draft class as Gase enters his first offseason in New York. The Jets are relying on players like Quinnen Williams and Jachai Polite to contribute early, and that means they’ll need to spend more time in the classroom to teach them the complexities of the NFL.<doc-sep>
The New York Jets four-year signing of tight end Trevon Wesco marks the first of the Florham Park rookie class to sign on the dotted line. Trevon Wesco becomes the first of the New York Jets rookie class to sign on the dotted line, via Brian Costello of the New York Post. The Jets signed fourth-round pick Trevon Wesco today, per source. The West Virginia TE is the first pick to sign. #nyj — Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) May 9, 2019 “The Jets signed fourth-round pick Trevon Wesco today, per source. The West Virginia TE is the first pick to sign.” It’s a four-year deal worth up to $3,226,576, per Over The Cap. Signing bonus: $706,576 (only guaranteed money in the deal) 2019 salary cap figure: $671,644 2020: $761,644 2021: $851,644 2022: $941,644 Wesco, 6-foot-4, 274 pounds, was the Jets fourth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. The West Virginia product is best described as the best blocking tight end in the talent pool. There’s a lot to like about the kid. Firstly, he fills an under-the-radar need. Adam Gase doesn’t carry a fullback which means the tight end spot must be deep. At least two legitimate blocking tight ends need to show face within the four or five-man group. Wesco joins Eric Tomlinson as the blocking H-back type tight ends on the roster. Brian Baldinger is high on the beastly new Jet, calling him “mini Gronk (Rob Gronkowski). .@nyjets @TrevonWesco #BabyGronk and I am not joking. He can do more for this new #JETS offense than any one player. @LeVeonBell will love what he will do for his game. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/dQMeVS4mr6 — Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) April 27, 2019 He’s not fast and he doesn’t showcase anything talent evaluators drool over at the NFL Combine, yet his sneaky drafting means the Jets challenged offensive line will receive much-needed help. Tight ends are too often overlooked as it pertains to the offensive line as a whole. Quinnen Williams, Jachai Polite, Chuma Edoga, Blake Cashman and Blessuan Austin, the New York Jets remaining draft picks, remain unsigned.