Scout's Take on Ravens Adding Jaire Alexander: 'A Steal, If He Can Stay Healthy' | MAILBAG

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Time to exhale. Sort of.

Now that teams across the league have wrapped mandatory minicamp, the only hurdle standing in our way of the 2025 NFL season and September is training camps kicking off late next month.

Still, it was a busy week, with an All-Pro changing zip codes, a sudden retirement, and not to mention young players bursting onto the scene in shorts and shells during workouts across the league.

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Inside this week’s mailbag: league sources weigh in on the Ravens’ offseason and the impact Jaire Alexander will have on Baltimore’s Super Bowl quest; my take on teams that could be primed for a drop-off in 2025; and why the Jets will survive without C.J. Mosley.

Let’s get after it!

With C.J. Mosley suddenly retiring, how does it change the Jets’ defense going into the season? (@Chronotr1ggered on Threads)

The Jets released Mosley back in March, so unless New York hoped they could bring the 33-year-old back on a more team-friendly deal, he likely didn’t figure much into head coach Aaron Glenn and Co.’s plans for 2025.

However, the decision to move on from Mosley was likely precipitated by Jamien Sherwood’s emergence last season, as the 25-year-old nailed down a starting role before posting a team-high 128 tackles with two sacks last season.

Sherwood, 25, was originally chosen by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft and seems to be just coming into his own.

“He is an instinctive run-down player,” an NFL Scouting Director told me, of Sherwood. “Mosely was a true three-down linebacker. Sherwood has the ability to grow into that.”

For the Jets, and for this defense to make strides, it will likely hinge on finding an ability to play complementary football this fall.

In theory, if Justin Fields and an offense built around running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen lean into a ground-and-pound run-oriented and ball-control offense —which sounds like is the plan — New York’s defense could surprise to the upside in 2025.

This was, according to folks inside that building, a defense that was built to pin its ears back, get after the quarterback, and protect leads, which it did not have the luxury to do the past two seasons.

Glenn’s arrival should also elevate edge rushers Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson. McDonald posted 11 sacks and 61 pressures last season, while Johnson had nine sacks and 56 pressures in 2023, before tearing his Achilles in Week 2 last season.

Under Glenn's direction in Detroit, the Lions' defense was known for creating turnovers; after all, only four teams pulled down more interceptions than the Lions’ 16 interceptions last season.

This aggressive, ball-hawking approach creates an easy threadline to a Jets secondary already built around elite talents like cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Gardner, a two-time All-Pro, consistently locks down one side of the field, and a more aggressive front seven under Glenn, designed to pressure quarterbacks and force quick throws, could lead to even more playmaking opportunities for him and the rest of the Jets' secondary.

New York is banking on Glenn unlocking this takeaway machine element of Gardner’s skill set that has yet to emerge, given his two career interceptions.

While Mosley's leadership might be missed, the Jets' defense appears poised to surprise, driven by a new identity and the promise of a truly unleashed pass rush under Glenn.

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Do you think that the Ravens did enough to clear the hump? Last year felt like their best shot, are they better now? (Brenon Savell - @Brenon.bksy.social on BlueSky)

The Baltimore Ravens have adopted an all-in posture, looking to finally get past the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC, delivering a Lombardi Trophy on Lamar Jackson’s elite athleticism and a decades-old old brutally physically imposing culture.