The Jets landed their No. 1 free agent priority yesterday, but that may just be an appetizer.
Wide receiver Santonio Holmes and the Jets agreed on a five-year deal, worth close to $50 million with $24 million guaranteed, according to a source. The deal cannot be finalized until tomorrow night when free agents are permitted to sign.
Now, the Jets have their sights set on cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. What was once considered a fantasy is getting closer and closer to a reality. The Jets have strong interest in teaming Asomugha with Darrelle Revis, a source said, to form the greatest cornerback tandem the NFL has seen.
The NFL Network reported the Jets and the 49ers are the leading suitors for Asomugha.
“Bringing Nnamdi on board, that’s great,” Revis said during a conference call yesterday. “He’s the best cornerback in the league. Me and him as a tandem would be unbelievable. It would be awesome. I would love to have him as a teammate.”
Revis and Asomugha are friends who spoke publicly about playing together at the Pro Bowl in 2010.
The questions now are how creative Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum can get with the salary cap, and whether Asomugha will have to — and be willing to — take less money than other teams are offering to join the Jets. The NFL Network reported the Jets are willing to give Asomugha $12 million per year. He is coming off a three-year, $45.3 million contract with the Raiders that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.
Just the idea of adding Asomugha had Jets fans salivating. Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan spoke with reporters yesterday afternoon but were not permitted to discuss either Asomugha or Holmes because neither is under contract. Ryan acknowledged the importance of cornerbacks in his 3-4 defense.
“I think corners is a huge priority for our football team because we do play so much man coverage,” Ryan said. “You’ve got to be able to hold up in our system. I have a theory that you lose games fastest at quarterback and cornerback so you better make sure you have some corners that can cover some people.”
Antonio Cromartie played opposite Revis last year and is a free agent. The Jets have talked to Cromartie, but Asomugha is clearly their top choice.
“The focus is Nnamdi Asomugha,” Revis said.
If the Jets land Asomugha, that along with Holmes would give them both players widely considered the top free agents in this year’s class.
“Our pass defense is going to be sky-high,” Revis said. “You’re going to have teams that have to game plan on two great corners. It’s going to be a challenge for offenses . . . to throw on us.”
The Jets and 27-year-old Holmes agreed to a deal about 24 hours after the free-agency period began. Holmes had an immediate impact for the Jets last season after coming over in a trade from the Steelers. After serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy, Holmes formed a rapport with quarterback Mark Sanchez and made several clutch, late-game catches.
The risk with Holmes is he faces a one-year suspension if he violates the drug policy again. The Jets surely worked some language into his contract to protect themselves in such a situation.
Holmes’ signing likely means the end of Braylon Edwards’ time with the Jets. The wide receiver sounded like he had little hope of returning to the team in a posting to his Twitter account last night.
“I would love to be a Jet but the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual with management,” Edwards wrote. He later deleted the tweet.
There was speculation the Jets would turn to veteran Randy Moss, but a source said the chances of Moss signing with the Jets were “very small.”
brian.costello@nypost.com