Jets pursue LB Hightower
NEW YORK >> The New York Jets are interested in signing a big free-agent prize away from an AFC East rival.
Free agent linebacker Dont’a Hightower has visited the Jets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
Hightower, one of the mostcoveted players in free agency this year, has helped the New England Patriots win two Super Bowls in his five NFL seasons. Hightower, a Pro Bowl selection last season, met with the Jets on Sunday and Monday, according to the person who spoke Monday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the visit.
CBS Sports first reported Hightower’s meeting with the Jets on Sunday night. ESPN reported on Monday that Hightower was next scheduled to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL Network also reported that Hightower has already met with Tennessee.
New England is also interested in bringing back Hight-
ower, who has 372 career tackles and 17 sacks since being a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2012. Hightower forced a fumble when he sacked Atlanta’s Matt Ryan in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, helping swing the momentum New England’s way in its comeback 34-28 overtime victory last month.
Hightower, who turned 27 on Sunday, also had a big play in the Patriots’ previous Super Bowl win two years ago. He tackled Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard line, and Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson on the next play to help seal the Patriots’ 28-24 win.
Hightower will likely have several offers to consider, but the Jets’ interest is intriguing. If they bring him in, it could spell the end of David Harris’ time with the team. Harris is the Jets’ longest-tenured player — he was a secondround pick in 2007 — but the 33-year-old linebacker is scheduled to count $6.5 million against New York’s salary cap this season.
Peterson visits Seahawks
Adrian Peterson visited the Seattle Seahawks, while his original team in Minnesota hosted fellow free agent running back Eddie Lacy.
There’s still a path for Peterson to return to the Vikings, but the signs of his potential departure haven’t stopped popping up.
Peterson was at Seahawks headquarters on Sunday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the details weren’t being made public. This was Peterson’s first in-person meeting with a team since the Vikings declined their option on his contract for 2017 and made him a free agent for the first time.
The Vikings have stated their openness to re-signing their all-time leading rusher for the right price, but they entered the offseason with bigger priorities and kicked it off by adding two new starters on a beleaguered offensive line in free agent tackles Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers.
That said, they’ll probably need to sign a veteran running back at some point with Jerick McKinnon currently the only one on the roster of significance. So their interest in Lacy was telling. The Seahawks have their eyes on Lacy, too, after the 26-year-old’s 2016 season with the Green Bay Packers was shortened by an ankle injury.