Allen Lazard remains a glaring Jets uncertainty after brutal first season

Allen Lazard should change his uniform number from 10 to a question mark.

That is what the veteran wide receiver is for the Jets this season.

Are they getting the player who worked himself from undrafted free agent to starter in Green Bay? The one that made the Jets think a four-year, $44 million contract was a good idea last year?

Or will they get the version of Lazard they saw last season who was inactive for three games down the stretch ? The one who looked slow and never had more than three catches in a game?

The Jets believe they still can get something positive out of Lazard this season. They hope a reunion with Aaron Rodgers will be enough to spark something that was missing last year. So far in training camp, Lazard has looked good. Other than a drop that led to an interception on Monday, Lazard has been making big catches and has a few touchdowns.

“I still expect to be a valuable starter on this team,” Lazard said Monday.

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It is tough to envision that.

The Jets signed Mike Williams to a $10 million contract his offseason. Williams looks like a better version of Lazard. Williams is still recovering from ACL surgery last year and is not practicing yet . That has led to plenty of reps for Lazard in camp, but that will end once Williams is healthy. The Jets expect Williams to return before the regular season. With Garrett Wilson on the opposite side, it is hard to see Lazard being more than a No. 4 wide receiver when you also include slot receiver Xavier Gipson.

Even if he is not a Week 1 starter, though, Lazard can have value. Injuries happen and he is more attractive as the team’s No. 4 receiver than their No. 2. Williams also may need some time to regain his form post-injury and Lazard could fill in.

Lazard acknowledged Monday how difficult his 2023 season was. He signed in March, a precursor to the Rodgers trade. The idea was for him to provide Rodgers with a familiar target. Like everything else for the Jets, those plans blew up in Week 1 when Rodgers tore his left Achilles. Lazard struggled with Zach Wilson at quarterback and ended up scoring just one touchdown and having 311 receiving yards. The team made him inactive on Black Friday against the Dolphins and again for the final two games, choosing to play undrafted rookies Gipson and Jason Brownlee over him.

Lazard did not go too far on the idea of redeeming himself on Monday.

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“I’m not here to prove anyone wrong but just to prove myself right,” he said. “I have high expectations for myself this season and for this team, as well.”

As much as the Jets are hoping that Lazard can give them something this year, it still feels like there is a disconnect between the player and the team.

Coach Robert Saleh pointed out that Lazard is participating in special teams this year as a way of praising Lazard for being willing to do that.

“He’s the first one up in every single special teams drill, trying to reconnect to that, which is a big deal,” Saleh said. “His head is in the right spot.”

Lazard did not sound quite as enthusiastic about playing special teams as Saleh did.

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“I walked in, I was on the depth chart there,” Lazard said. “Just by the rule of my contract and stuff and not wanting to be fined, I showed up.”

OK then.

The Jets may need Lazard to be on the punt team in order to justify having him active for games. But they don’t need him tackling returners this year, they need him catching passes.

“He’s not the first or the last big-money free agent to kind of have a hiccup in his first year,” Saleh said, “trying to adjust to a new scheme, a new environment, a new practice schedule, a new everything. I think he’s doing a great job.”

Lazard said he wants to “reestablish the value that I bring to this team.”

At the moment, his $11 million per year salary looks like one of the worst free agent signings in recent memory, and that is not a small list.

Lazard can change all that with a few big games this season. There will be a time where Lazard is called upon this season for the Jets because of injuries or something else.

Will he be able to answer? We’ll find out. Until then, he remains a question mark.

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