Carl Lawson sat down for the first time Thursday with Jets coach Robert Saleh, but the new Jets runner is already a fan.
“He really started a while ago,” Lawson said of what attracted him to the Jets. “I searched a few things on YouTube about Coach Saleh. I’ve heard about him throughout the league and saw that he got the job here. I watched some of his interviews and was left with the awesome that “It was the message I was preaching. Even in a video, I could hear him talking to me. That was in the back of my mind.
While Lawson can love his new coach, there is no doubt that the Jets helped make his free agency decision easier by offering him a three-year, $ 45 million contract with $ 30 million guaranteed. .
“There were a lot of reasons,” Lawson said of his decision. “Obviously, everyone can see money was one of them. It is quite obvious that he is one of them, but he was not the greatest ”.
Lawson arrives at the Bengals Jets. It was a pick from the fourth round of 2017 that became a fast-moving force. His number of sacks is modest (20 in four years), but he is respected throughout the league for putting pressure on the quarterback and disrupting offense. The Jets get a player who has just entered his heyday and will be 26 when the season comes.
“The biggest strength I have is the will to improve and improve, along with my athletic traits,” Lawson said. “I have all the athletic traits to be as good as I want to be. You combine it with the commitment to improve. The contract is fantastic. But that was more important being able to take care of my family. But now something that comes with the contract is that I only care about my job.
The breakdown of the contract, which Lawson signed on Thursday, has guaranteed salaries of $ 6.2 million in 2021 and $ 15 million in 2022, a $ 7.8 million list bonus he will get next week and a $ 1 million bonus with a salary of $ 15 million in 2023 is not guaranteed. It also has an annual sack incentive of $ 800,000.
“They really wanted me here,” said Lawson, who declined to say the interest the Bengals or any other team showed him. “That speaks to me a lot.”
The Jets spent a lot of money on Lawson to improve his career. He is the first player to invest since Calvin Pace in 2008. Lawson comes to a team that finished 2-14 last year and has lost the playoffs for 10 seasons in a row. Jets general manager Joe Douglas is signing players who he hopes will not only be able to turn the team around on the field, but also build a winning culture.
“I’m looking forward to building with the New York Jets,” Lawson said. “There is a lot of optimism, especially after a bad season. I feel like working. I love the process. I play Madden because I love building teams.
You can now play with the Jets on Madden and in real life. He’ll see what Saleh can do for him after studying him on YouTube.
“I think it will do wonders for my career,” Lawson said. “I’m excited to play here. I’m excited to be Jet. I come with all the optimism in the world.