There has been some chatter this offseason that Joe Tippmann and Josh Myers will be battling for the starting New York Jets center job.
Fans scoffed at this possibility this offseason, thinking it was a fugazi competition.
However, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared his “one key observation” that he learned from NFL offseason workouts.
“There will be legitimate competition for the starting center job — which is not something that was expected coming into the offseason. By most metrics, Joe Tippmann graded out decently last year — his first full season as a starter. But Tippmann was a draft selection of the previous regime, and this new group — head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey — brought in free-agent center Josh Myers to push the 2023 second-round pick,” Rosenblatt explained.
“Myers signed cheaply (one year, $3.5 million), which made it seem like he was coming in to add depth at center. But then Mougey alluded to him pushing Tippmann at the owners’ meeting, and that held true during OTAs and minicamp. Myers’ edge is in experience, both overall (56 starts versus Tippmann’s 31, not all at center) and with quarterback Justin Fields, who he played with at Ohio State. Tippmann should still be viewed as the favorite, but Myers is getting a real shot at the job,” Rosenblatt added.
Tippmann Breaks His Silence on His Relationship With Myers
The former Wisconsin product has appeared in 33 games and has made 31 starts. 2024 marked the first time that Tippmann served as a full-time starter all season long.
You’d think heading into year No. 3 with his job apparently on the line this offseason that things could get awkward between Tippmann and Myers. Not the case.
“It has been awesome. Josh is such a great dude. He is a Midwest guy like myself, so we immediately got along really well. We found out some stuff like growing up, we vacationed at the same spot pretty much all winter long, doing some snowmobiling stuff up there. Coming along with Josh, he has been such a great guy. Somebody who is in the room helping me, I’m helping him, after a meeting/practice, we can kind of lay our thoughts on the table and kind of ping pong off each other. That has been something that has just been great for the both of us. I’m excited to be working with him and working along with the rest of the O-Line,” Tippmann told Jets team reporter Caroline Hendershot.
You’d think things would be awkward between Joe Tippmann & Josh Myers who are both ‘competing’ for the starting #Jets center job.
According to Tippmann, there’s nothing to report but positive vibes.
‘It has been awesome. Josh is such a great dude. He is a Midwest guy like… pic.twitter.com/NPWxRcVeOA
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) June 28, 2025
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This Jets Narrative Seems Hard to Believe
Despite several Jets beat reporters coming to the same conclusion, it just seems hard to believe.
Myers, a player who signed for backup money (a one-year $3.5 million deal), is going to steal a job from a promising youngster?
Tippmann, by all accounts, was terrific last year. Pro Football Focus graded him as a top-10 center in the league in overall grade (73.4) and run block grade (77.3).
Tippmann is eligible to discuss a contract extension after the 2025 season. Unless the Jets plan on moving on from him, this competition just doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense.
If anything, this just feeds into head coach Aaron Glenn’s “compete” mantra. No job is given; everything is earned. Coaches say that, but do we buy that for every player?
Sauce Gardner is “competing” for a top corner job, but we all know he is a starter, even if it isn’t publicly announced.
This Tippmann-Myers situation is going to be a Santa Claus example. I’m going to have to see his fat [expletive] come down the chimney before I start believing in Christmas. Until then, I’ll consider this nothing more than talk show talk.
