NFL

Jets likely in Jones-Drew market, but RB won’t be cheap

ORLANDO, Fla. — The market for Maurice Jones-Drew is starting to heat up and will likely include the Jets, but the wait could be lengthy for the former Jaguars workhorse.

While Jones-Drew’s agent is expected to meet with several teams at the NFL owners meetings this week, a league source said the league’s 2011 rushing champion thinks he is worth at least $3 million per year and is willing to wait out the market.

That is more than teams are expected to pay at the moment for a backup running back who is 29 years old with a lot of mileage and is coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons.

Jones-Drew missed 10 games in 2012 and averaged just 3.4 yards per carry for Jacksonville last season, a far cry from his league-best 1,606 yards on 343 rushes in 2011.

The source said Jones-Drew might be willing to wait until late in the summer or even into the season as an injury replacement if teams aren’t willing to meet his price.


New Giants offensive lineman John Jerry might not be available to them right away because of his links to the Dolphins’ bullying scandal.

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Jerry, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey will all have to undergo a mental-health evaluation and could face additional punishment from the league after being named in the Wells Report as the three main tormentors of ex-Miami lineman Jonathan Martin.

Jerry, who signed with the Giants on Friday, is mentioned more than 100 times in the report and was cited as having started the bullying by challenging Martin to a fight in 2012.

As for Incognito, Raiders owner Mark Davis would not rule out signing the alleged ringleader of Martin’s hazing when asked Monday. Incognito expressed a desire last week to play for Oakland.


The owners will vote on various rules and structural proposals on Tuesday, but expanding the playoffs by one team per conference won’t be one of them.

Goodell said Monday the expanded playoffs — which are expected to happen in 2015 — won’t be voted on until after he meets with the NFL Players Association next month to get their blessing.


Goodell made it clear in his news conference Monday afternoon that the Colts’ Jim Irsay won’t escape punishment for his recent arrest for driving while intoxicated.

Although Goodell said he will wait for the facts before issuing a ruling, the commissioner said Irsay is bound by the NFL’s personal conduct policy just like anyone else in the league.

“Obviously, any policies or any laws that are broken, whether you’re commissioner or owner or player or coach, those are subject to discipline,” Goodell said.


The Ravens tied with the Jets for the most compensatory picks handed out by the league on Monday.

Baltimore’s presence atop that list was no surprise. Speaking to the incredible draft prowess of longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens have been awarded 41 compensatory picks since 1994 — eight more than any other team in the league.

Compensatory picks, by the way, are determined by a formula devised by the league based on the salary, playing time and postseason honors of free agents a team lost the year before.