The 2007 season was the New York Jets' 38th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 48th season overall, and their second under head coach Eric Mangini. The team attempted to improve upon their 10 wins in the 2006 season, but only finished with a 4–12 record.

Offseason

Player transactions

Free agents heading into the 2007 season Player name Position Tag typeFree agent tag types are UFA (unrestricted free agent) and RFA (restricted free agent). Unrestricted free agents may be signed by any team in the league with no rights held by the previous team. Restricted free agents may be signed by any team in the league; however, the previous team is compensated for the loss of that player. CompensationApplies only to restricted free agents. All players are subject to a right of first refusal (ROFR); however, if a team is not entitled to any compensation from the loss of that player, it is noted that the player is only subject to an ROFR. Players with no qualifying offer (NQO) are noted as well, and may be signed by any team in the league, with the previous team receiving no compensation for the loss of that player. Date signed Team signed with B. J. Askew Running back UFA March 4 Buccaneers Dave Ball Defensive end RFA No qualifying offer March 26 Panthers Anthony Clement Offensive tackle UFA March 19 Jets James Hodgins Running back UFA Rashad Moore Defensive tackle RFA No qualifying offer Patriots Sean Ryan Tight end RFA Fifth-round pick Jets Wade Smith Center UFA March 10 Jets Cody Spencer Linebacker RFA Sixth-round pick Jets

Signings The Jets signed defensive end Michael Haynes on March 22. Haynes played three seasons with the Chicago Bears, but was cut before the beginning of last season.

Marques Tuiasosopo was signed by the Jets on March 23 after spending six seasons with the Oakland Raiders. He and Kellen Clemens will compete for the role of backup quarterback behind starter Chad Pennington.

Among the more notable free agent signings during the offseason was the acquisition of defensive end Andre Wadsworth on March 26. Wadsworth was the third overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft, but had been out of football since 2000 — when he was cut by the Arizona Cardinals — due to several knee injuries and subsequent operations that kept him off the field.

Departures The Jets released backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey on March 2. Ramsey was slated to be the primary backup behind Chad Pennington in 2006, but only played one snap under center during the regular season.

Perhaps the most expected departure was the retirement of Curtis Martin on July 26. Martin was the fourth-leading rusher in NFL history at the time of his retirement with 14,101 yards. He hadn't played since week 12 of the 2005 season with a bone-on-bone knee injury ending his season. He was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list last season before being placed on injured reserve in week 8.

Trades The Jets addressed a need at running back on March 6 by acquiring Thomas Jones from the Chicago Bears. The Jets' rushing offense ranked among the bottom teams in the NFL in 2006. In addition to Jones, the Jets received the 63rd pick in the 2007 NFL draft, in exchange for the Jets' 37th pick, which the Jets acquired from the Washington Redskins last year. Jones then signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the team.

On August 23, the Jets agreed to trade disgruntled offensive lineman Pete Kendall to the Redskins, in exchange for the Redskins’ fifth-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft, which could become their fourth-round pick in 2009 depending on how much Kendall plays this season. Kendall had asked the Jets for a $1 million raise to his $1.7 million 2007 salary, which the Jets had refused, since Kendall had already renegotiated his contract prior to the 2006 season. He subsequently asked to be traded or released, and made his frustrations known to the media. During the preseason, Kendall practiced at center and played at that position in the Jets' preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings on August 17. The experiment resulted in two botched shotgun snaps for the Jets, one of which was converted into a defensive touchdown for the Vikings.

2007 NFL draft The Jets were granted the 25th pick in the first round of the annual college draft. The draft took place on April 28 and 29 in New York City.

The team was especially busy on draft day, making two big moves to move up in the order. First, they traded the 25th pick in the first round, along with their second (59th overall) and fifth-round (164th) picks to the Carolina Panthers for their first-round (14th) and sixth-round (191st) picks. They used the 14th pick on cornerback Darrelle Revis from the University of Pittsburgh. Later, they traded their other second-round pick (63rd) with their third (89th) and the sixth-round pick acquired from Carolina to the Green Bay Packers for their second (47th) and seventh-round (235th) picks. The four players taken by the Jets represent the smallest draft class in franchise history.

Revis initially did not attend the Jets’ training camp, as he was still in the midst of negotiating his contract. He eventually signed a six-year, $36 million contract on August 15, 21 days after camp had started. Revis was the second-to-last first-round pick to sign a contract with a team, with JaMarcus Russell of the Oakland Raiders the only holdout remaining afterwards. Revis was the first draftee not signed before training camp by the Jets since James Farrior in 1997, and had the longest holdout since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996.

Staff

Roster

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Atlanta Falcons W 31–16 1–0 Giants Stadium Recap 2 Minnesota Vikings L 20–37 1–1 Giants Stadium Recap 3 at New York Giants W 20–12 2–1 Giants Stadium Recap 4 at Philadelphia Eagles W 13–11 3–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap

Regular season Matchups were determined at the end of the previous season through the league's scheduling formula. In addition to two games each against their traditional AFC East rivals, the team will face teams from the AFC North and NFC East. The Jets will also host the Kansas City Chiefs, marking Herman Edwards' first game against his former team since leaving after the 2005 season, and visit the Tennessee Titans.

The schedule was officially released on April 11. One game—the Jets' Thanksgiving game against the Dallas Cowboys—was announced with the league's opening weekend games on March 26. Game times from weeks 11 through 17 (excluding the aforementioned Cowboys game) were subject to change in accordance with the NFL's flexible scheduling policy. Two games wound up being affected: the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was moved from a 1:00 p.m. Eastern time start to 4:05 p.m.; the game against the Chiefs was moved from NBC Sunday Night Football to a 4:15 p.m. start on CBS.

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 9 New England Patriots L 14–38 0–1 Giants Stadium Recap 2 September 16 at Baltimore Ravens L 13–20 0–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 3 September 23 Miami Dolphins W 31–28 1–2 Giants Stadium Recap 4 September 30 at Buffalo Bills L 14–17 1–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap 5 October 7 at New York Giants L 24–35 1–4 Giants Stadium Recap 6 October 14 Philadelphia Eagles L 9–16 1–5 Giants Stadium Recap 7 October 21 at Cincinnati Bengals L 31–38 1–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 8 October 28 Buffalo Bills L 3–13 1–7 Giants Stadium Recap 9 November 4 Washington Redskins L 20–23 1–8 Giants Stadium Recap 10Bye 11 November 18 Pittsburgh Steelers W 19–16 2–8 Giants Stadium Recap 12 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–34 2–9 Texas Stadium Recap 13 December 2 at Miami Dolphins W 40–13 3–9 Dolphin Stadium Recap 14 December 9 Cleveland Browns L 18–24 3–10 Giants Stadium Recap 15 December 16 at New England Patriots L 10–20 3–11 Gillette Stadium Recap 16 December 23 at Tennessee Titans L 6–10 3–12 LP Field Recap 17 December 30 Kansas City Chiefs W 13–10 4–12 Giants Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Regular season game summaries

Week 1: vs. New England Patriots

Game summary The Jets began their 2007 campaign at home for a Week 1 divisional match-up with the New England Patriots. In the first quarter, New York immediately trailed as QB Tom Brady completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to WR Wes Welker for the only score of the period. In the second quarter, the Jets tied the game with QB Chad Pennington completing a 7-yard touchdown pass to WR Laveranues Coles. However, the Patriots retook the lead with Brady completing a 5-yard touchdown pass to TE Benjamin Watson.

On the opening kickoff for the third quarter, New York trailed even more as CB Ellis Hobbs returned the kickoff an NFL record 108 yards for a touchdown. Afterwards, New England continued his onslaught as Brady completed a 51-yard touchdown pass to WR Randy Moss. The Jets got their last score of the game when Pennington and Coles hooked up again on a 1-yard touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots took over for the rest of the game as kicker Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 22-yard field goal, while FB Heath Evans ended the game with a 1-yard touchdown run.

With the loss, the Jets began their season at 0–1 while the Patriots began 1–0.

Scoring summary Scoring summary Q Team Time Scoring play Extra point Score1 NE 5:39 Welker 11-yard pass from Brady Gostkowski kick NE 7–02 NYJ 4:15 Coles 7-yard pass from Pennington Nugent kick Tied 7–72 NE 1:07 Watson 5-yard pass from Brady Gostkowski kick NE 14–73 NE 14:46 Hobbs 108-yard kickoff return Gostkowski kick NE 21–73 NE 7:01 Moss 51-yard pass from Brady Gostkowski kick NE 28–73 NYJ 2:19 Coles 1-yard pass from Pennington Nugent kick NE 28–144 NE 6:51 Gostkowski 22-yard field goal NE 31–144 NE 1:58 Evans 1-yard run Gostkowski kick NE 38–14

Video taping incident

On September 10, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was accused by the Jets of authorizing his staff to film the Jets' defensive signals from an onfield location, a violation of league rules. The Jets confiscated the video camera used by video assistant Matt Estrella to film the signals during the game and filed a complaint to the league office, detailing the accusations.

On September 13, Belichick was officially fined $500,000, while the Patriots were also fined $250,000 and forfeited their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL draft. If the Patriots had missed the playoffs, they would have instead forfeited their second and third round selections in the 2008 draft. Goodell said that he fined the Patriots as a team because Belichick is effectively the team's general manager as well as head coach and exercises so much control over the Patriots' on-field operations that "his actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club." Goodell considered suspending Belichick, but decided that taking away draft picks would be more severe in the long run.

Belichick later issued a statement in which he apologized for what he called a "mistake" in his interpretation of the rules. However, he denied ever using video tape to gain an advantage while a game was underway.

Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens

Game summary