{"id":131227,"date":"2022-03-15T15:51:53","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T19:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=131227"},"modified":"2022-03-15T15:59:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T19:59:35","slug":"jordan-whitehead-signs-with-new-york-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/03\/15\/jordan-whitehead-signs-with-new-york-jets\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Whitehead to Sign with New York Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NFL veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WhitJo03.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Whitehead<\/a> signed a new contract with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Jets<\/a>. Whitehead spent the first four seasons of his pro career with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\/\" target=\"_self\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>. He entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick in 2018 and started every game en route to the Bucs winning Super Bowl LV during the 2020 season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">2-year deal worth $14.5M, per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SunnyTheAgent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SunnyTheAgent<\/a>. This gives him a chance to hit the market at 26. A win-win. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mwrJC7Badg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/mwrJC7Badg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1503822297504882688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Jordan Whitehead, New York Jets, Agree to Contract<\/h2>\n<p>Even though the Buccaneers couldn&#8217;t repeat in 2021, Whitehead still performed well. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/players\/jordan-whitehead\/stats\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">started 14 games, tallied 67 tackles<\/a>, snatched a pair of interceptions, defended a further eight passes and forced a fumble.<\/p>\n<p>Whitehead was even better the year before. He didn&#8217;t miss a snap next to fellow safety Antoine Winfield Jr. The duo&#8217;s ability to play in the box against the run or against slot receivers helped Tampa&#8217;s stingy defense.<\/p>\n<p>Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles took full advantage of Whitehead&#8217;s flexibility. Bowles blitzed Whitehead from multiple angles, either directly from the slot or on stunts inside, like for this sack against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/broncos\/\" target=\"_self\">Denver Broncos<\/a> during the Bucs&#8217; Super Bowl season, per PFF&#8217;s Jon Macri:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Another one from Week 3&#39;s game against DEN. The RBs pass-blocking in the backfield were White&#39;s kryptonite in this game as they stop him from 3 really good sack opportunities.<br \/>It looks like White gets there but this is solely credited to Jordan Whitehead. So close though! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gA1d4adNFy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gA1d4adNFy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jon Macri (@PFF_Macri) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PFF_Macri\/status\/1317204313458999296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Whitehead&#8217;s ability to impact both phases of an offense showed up against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/packers\/\" target=\"_self\">Green Bay Packers<\/a> in the NFC Championship Game. He forced two fumbles, including one recovered by linebacker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WhitDe02.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin White<\/a> in the third quarter that led to a Bucs&#8217; touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>The best was yet to come as Whitehead played his part in a more conservative defense that still shut down Patrick Mahomes and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/chiefs\/\" target=\"_self\">Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in the Super Bowl. There were a lot of two-deep zone shells, so Whitehead got to show off his coverage skills in Bowles&#8217; defense.<\/p>\n<p>Bowles arrived in 2019 with head coach Bruce Arians and they helped take Whitehead&#8217;s game to another level. Their first season working together saw the safety record 50 solo tackles, defend nine passes and make a pick.<\/p>\n<p>Whitehead quickly became a starter as a rookie. He started 11 of 15 games, as the Buccaneers went 5-11 in their final season under Dirk Koetter.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the struggles, Whitehead was productive. The rookie was in on 68 tackles, including 53 solo stops. He also broke up a quartet of passes, offering evidence of the tenacity and range that have defined his career since.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"tLi-uWEWSLhGCKjOEXGQyg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1365001686\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'tLi-uWEWSLhGCKjOEXGQyg',sig:'IPZ0XtrzX3E6XSzk7rdGJ6nJv3DcDGW13PoWiuccIGM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1365001686',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NFL veteran safety Jordan Whitehead signed a new contract. Whitehead spent the 2021 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3988,"featured_media":131420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,6],"tags":[8848,7748,8998,218,1608],"class_list":["post-131227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-jets","tag-2022-nfl-free-agency","tag-jets-featured","tag-jordan-whitehead","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Mason Smoller, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}