The New York Jets have filled one of their starting holes at the safety position.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter shared the news on social media that the Jets have signed former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Andre Cisco to a one-year deal for $10 million.
Cisco, 24, just played out his four-year rookie contract with the Jaguars. During that stretch, Cisco appeared in 63 games and made 47 starts.
The former Syracuse product has racked up eight interceptions, a pick six, 24 pass deflections, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and has totaled 229 tackles.
Cisco Brings Elite Instincts and Ball Skills to the Jets Secondary
Cisco just has a nose for the football. He has made plays in the NFL and he has made plays in college.
Across his three collegiate seasons with the Orange, he totaled 13 interceptions. 12 of those 13 picks came in his first two years.
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein described Cisco coming out of college as “fearless” on the football field.
“Attacks crossing routes like a heat-seeking missile … Urgent demeanor to attack the line of scrimmage.”
Cisco is an attack style, aggressive player, that plays with a reckless abandon. Sometimes that can get him in trouble.
He is coming off of his worst year as a pro. That explains the one-year $10 million nature of his contract. Pro Football Focus projected him to land a three-year deal for $27 million. He won’t get that this offseason, but if he gets back to the player he was earlier in his career, Cisco could cash in a big way in 2026.
“Cisco had the profile of an ascending young playmaker with a knack for flipping the field after posting seven interceptions over the 2023-24 seasons, but his contract year was a bit of a mess as the Jacksonville Jaguars took a step backward of their own. Cisco was seemingly removed from the starting lineup for Weeks 13 and 14, instead rotating in after normally playing nearly every snap, and posted career-low grades almost across the board. That said, we see time and time again what a messy situation can do to talented players, so perhaps a change of scenery could get Cisco’s career back on track,” PFF wrote in his free agency profile.
The Jets Just Got Exactly What the Doctor Ordered
The Jets struggled to create takeaways last season. Gang Green finished with only seven interceptions on defense. That was the fourth lowest total of any team in the NFL in 2024, per ESPN.
Nothing helps an offense quite like a complementary defense. Takeaways on defense creates short fields for the offense. In theory that should provide easier scoring opportunities.
Cisco isn’t a perfect player. If he was, he would have gotten a lot more than $10 million on a one year deal. However that signing is a step in the right direction.
Aaron Glenn is a former cornerback that spent 15 years in the NFL. When he is picking free agents at the same position he played or played next to, Glenn deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
That is one safety spot locked down with one more to go.
