WR Lazard inks 4-year, $44 million deal with Jets
Allen Lazard enjoyed everything about New York when he visited for the first time a few months ago.
Now, it will be home for the Jets’ newest wide receiver. And he’ll be reunited with his former offensive coordinator in Nathaniel Hackett— and perhaps soon quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Lazard signed a four-year contract with the Jets on Friday, a deal worth $44 million and includes $22 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.
“For me, I just wanted to get to a big city,” Lazard, who is from Iowa, said during a Zoom call. “I wanted to get to a spot that especially has just a melting pot of culture and just be able to get that experience. You know, the bright lights, New York City.”
The Big Apple spotlight might soon shine on Rodgers, Lazard’s former Packers teammate, who said on “The Pat McAfee Show” this week that he intends to play for New York this year after 18 seasons in Green Bay. The sides are still working on compensation details to try to complete a trade.
Lazard knows expectations will rise enormously if Rodgers lands with the Jets, a franchise that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1969 and has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 12 seasons.
“Him being here definitely helps the entire organization be able to take that next step that they need to make a deep playoff run and go win that Lombardi trophy,” Lazard said.
The 27-year-old wide receiver said Rodgers’ decision wasn’t necessarily a determining factor on where he’d sign as a free agent, but “it definitely helps.”
Lazard said coach Robert Saleh’s presence also was a factor, but he raved about Hackett, who worked with the receiver in the same role as offensive coordinator in Green Bay from 2019-21.
“He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had in my life,” Lazard said. “And I go from school to football, he just makes learning fun. … He makes it really easy and he allows you to go out there and just play fast and not think. Because of that is why I’ve had a lot of success these past few years.”
The 6-foot-5 Lazard, regarded as a terrific blocker as a receiver, is coming off his best NFL season. He had personal highs of 60 catches and 788 yards receiving to go along with six touchdowns; in 2021, he had a career-best eight TD receptions.
■ SEAHAWKS: The Seattle Seahawks continued the overhaul of their defense on Friday by signing versatile safety Julian Love to a two-year contract.
Love’s agreement is worth up to $12 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal, and came after Seattle announced the signing of former first-round linebacker Devin Bush to a one-year deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team had not announced terms of Love’s signing.
Love’s addition continues Seattle’s spending at the safety position having already heavily invested in Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and the likelihood of a deal in the future for Ryan Neal. He may also be protection in case Adams isn’t fully recovered by the start of the season after he suffered a torn quadriceps tendon in Week 1 of last season.
Love, who turns 25 on Sunday, started 16 games last season for the New York Giants and recorded career highs in tackles and interceptions. Love played a variety of defensive back positions for the Giants before settling in at safety last season and thriving in the role.
Bush’s signing could end up filling a significant void for Seattle. The 24-yearold was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and had a standout rookie season where he had a career-high 109 tackles and was third in defensive rookie of the year voting. But Bush suffered a torn ACL during the 2020 season and has struggled to rediscover the form from his rookie season.
■ COWBOYS: The Dallas Cowboys are re-signing quarterback Cooper Rush as Dak Prescott’s backup on a two-year contract.
Rush signed the deal worth up to $6 million Friday after leading Dallas to a 4-1 record when Prescott was out with a broken thumb last season.
The Cowboys went on to their second consecutive playoff berth with a 12-5 record, beating Tampa Bay in the wild-card round before a divisional loss to San Francisco.
Defense did most of the work after Prescott was injured in the season opener, but Rush was efficient and avoided turnovers in winning the first four games without the Dallas star.
During Prescott’s fivegame absence, Rush threw for 956 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions, all three picks coming in a 26-17 loss to Philadelphia that ended a four-game winning streak.