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Jets Antonio Allen hopes to 'lock down' starting safety spot

Antonio Allen depended on Josh Bush during his rookie season last year.

The two were both first-year safeties, seventh and sixth round picks, respectively. Both were learning a complicated new system that demanded a speedy learning curve. Both were parsing a giant playbook.

And, of course, Bush had a car. Allen did not.

"He was the one who drove us from the facility and back to the hotel," Allen said, laughing. "So we're pretty tight."

Now the two are direct competitors for the second safety spot along with former second-round pick and Eagles castaway Jaiquawn Jarrett. Defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman declared as much last week during a conference call with season-ticket holders, saying that the starter alongside Dawan Landry will be determined through the offseason.

Offseason training activities begin for the Jets today.

Allen said that Thurman never told the safeties directly about a competition although it was apparent early on this offseason. Dueling reps have become a running scorecard between the two.

"I can see it out there on the field, you know?" Allen said. "He takes me out, puts Josh in. He takes Josh out, puts me in. So, it's a healthy competition at the end of the day."

He hopes his ability as a playmaker can stand out during these reps. At South Carolina, he wasn't typically asked to be a pure safety and is still adjusting to the position. He appeared in seven games last year, mostly on special teams, and recovered a fumble. Bush appeared in all 16, also largely in a special teams role.

Allen knows Bush would still give him a lift if need be, though. They remain friends despite the competition, one of at least eight open battles that will determine opening-day starters.

"I'm all up for it," Allen said. "We're all close in the DB room but obviously someone needs to get the start. I'm just trying to come here and compete. I just try and do what I do best, and that's make plays.

"Hopefully, me doing that will lock down that position."

Offseason overhaul close to happening

Yes, the NFL offseason will be changing. But not the way the NFL had envisioned.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the league and the NFLPA are on the verge of a deal that would move the draft to May, something the league has wanted. The change would apply to at least the next three years.

It’s unclear when in May the draft would occur, but it’s safe to assume that the draft would fall in the window for the Nielsen’s ratings sweeps.

The quid pro quo apparently will come from the movement of the start of the league year (and in turn the launch of free agency) from after the Scouting Combine to before it. While at first blush this suggests the new league year will land in February, the more likely outcome is that the Scouting Combine will happen in March.

Regardless of the precise dates for the Scouting Combine, the change means that the Combine no longer would be the league’s annual tampering swap meet. The market already would be open, and agents would be trying to do deals with teams instead of merely laying the foundation for those deals in a way that violates NFL rules.

The league had wanted to move the Combine to March, to delay the launch of free agency to April, and to nudge the draft to May. The NFLPA wisely balked, since it would delay the transfer of offseason funds from teams to players.

Instead, free agency (and the “signing day” concept the NFL is developing) would happen in late February or early March (like it used to), the Combine would come after that, and the third significant event in the NFL offseason would happen in May, blending seamlessly into OTAs that extend into June, followed by a six-week quiet period that never really is quiet.

If the new approach maximizes opportunities for fans to follow the NFL and further increases interest, it’s hard for a website that derives its audience and revenue from covering the NFL to complain. But we’ll probably find a reason to.

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@Steiny31 - Goodson was apparently so drunk, per News 12, that an ambulance was called and he had to be rushed to the hospital. #nyj

@Steiny31 - Per News12, Police found marijuana on Goodson along with a gun with ammo in his car. He has been arrested and charged. #nyj

Dee Milliner fires his agency, is second N.Y. Jets rookie to do so

New York Jets cornerback Dee Milliner has fired his agency, Impact Sports, after failing to be selected in the top five of the 2013 NFL Draft. The move made Milliner the second high-profile Jets rookie, after quarterback Geno Smith, to do so after a draft deemed less than satisfying.

Milliner now must wait five days before hiring a new agency.

Tony Fleming, the lead agent on Milliner, confirmed the news in a statement Thursday, saying the cornerback had terminated Impact Sports' services.

"I know that everything was done to ensure that Mr. Milliner would be drafted as high as possible," Fleming said. "Dee was the first cornerback selected, and he was drafted ninth overall to the New York Jets. This is a tremendous accomplishment. I wish Mr. Milliner future success in his professional career."

Since 2000, Impact has represented 12 first-round draft picks, with several in the top 10. But Milliner is the first during that time to part ways with the agency. In fact, just two first-rounders in 26 years terminated agreements with the agency -- none before the completion of the rookie contracts -- and both eventually re-hired them.

Noteworthy is that the Jets have been sticklers on including off-set language in contracts, which might be an issue for Milliner at No. 9. Impact Sports negotiated St. Louis Rams rookie Robert Quinn's contract in 2011, making him the lowest first-rounder to receive no offset language.

Pundits long considered Milliner to be a top-five pick, even if several teams privately said they rated him more like a late top 10 to mid-first-rounder. Milliner was considered to be slightly behind Morris Claiborne, who went sixth overall to the Dallas Cowboys in last year's draft.

Milliner battled pre-draft reports of slow progress from shoulder surgery -- one of many ailments from his college career at Alabama -- though teams were informed early about them and they did not appear to be much of an issue.

Jets’ Joe McKnight: They’ll have to kill me to take my roster spot

The Jets’ decision to trade for running back Chris Ivory and sign free agent running back Mike Goodson is a strong signal that running back Joe McKnight’s job is in jeopardy. But McKnight says he’s not going down without a fight.

“I don’t care who they bring in, they’re going [to have to] kill me to take my spot. You understand that now?” McKnight told the New York Daily News. “Just because they bring Goodson and Ivory in they already think I’m gone. They just bringing people in for competition, they ain’t bringing nobody in to say, ‘Joe is done.’”

McKnight is currently penciled in at No. 4 on the depth chart behind Ivory, Goodson and Bilal Powell, but he doesn’t see any reason to worry.

“Yeah, I’m going to be on the team, I ain’t going, no damn way,” he said. “They have to beat me to take my spot first. Man, look, they told me it’s a fresh slate.”

It may be a fresh slate, but McKnight is an underdog to make the team. Fortunately for him, the Jets won’t really have to kill him to cut him.