Jets and perennial Gore agree to terms on one-year contract

NEW YORK (AP) — Frank Gore’s likely run in Canton will pass through the Big Apple for at least one season.

The seemingly ageless running back, who turns 37 next Thursday, agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the New York Jets on Tuesday.

Gore is third on the NFL’s career rushing list with 15,269 yards after passing Barry Sanders on the list last year while with Buffalo. With the Jets, Gore will join a backfield that includes Le’Veon Bell and fourth-round pick La’Mical Perine.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN. Gore too changed its Twitter header to include the Jets logo.

“Truly a blessing!!!” Blood wrote. “Let’s go JETS!” #ForeverGrinding!!”

New York had not yet announced the signing, which reunites Gore with coach Adam Gase, for whom he played in Miami in 2018. The two were also together in San Francisco in 2008, when Gase was an offensive assistant.

Gore, who many believe will one day be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is behind only Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726) in rushing yards in NFL history .

“He’s a guy with a great work ethic and he’s a very good leader, a very good guy in the locker room,” Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said during a Zoom conference call with reporters . “And, obviously, it looks like he can still play. We’re excited to have him.

“I know Coach Gase has worked with him before and he speaks very highly of him.”

Gore spent last season with Buffalo, where he had a career-low 599 yards and 3.6 yards per carry in 16 games while sharing the backfield with rookie Devin Singletary. The veteran passed for two touchdowns and also caught 13 passes for 100 yards.

But Gore won’t be asked to shoulder the load in New York – which Bell had to do last season in his first year with the Jets. Bell rushed for 789 yards after missing a season with Pittsburgh amid a contract dispute, but his 3.2 yards per carry were the lowest of his career.

Gase told ESPN.com in a podcast last week that the hope was the Jets would be able to “lighten the load” on Bell, 28, by incorporating other backs and keeping Bell fresh and effective as a as runner number 1.

Gore would certainly be able to help fill that role. But it will also raise some eyebrows about Bell’s working relationship with Gase, whose inconsistent usage of Bell last season was sometimes called into question.

Gore spent his first 10 seasons in the NFL with San Francisco after being selected in the third round out of the University of Miami in 2005. He then played three seasons with Indianapolis before playing one year each for Miami and Buffalo.

In Gore’s last stop in the AFC East — he simply hasn’t been with New England anymore — he could also provide mentorship to Perine, for whom New York has high hopes. The Jets also have Josh Adams, Trenton Cannon and Kenneth Dixon on the roster.

Gase praised Gore’s professionalism and ability to play at a high level last season despite being at an age where most NFL players — let alone running backs — are retired for a long time. In fact, Gore’s son Frank Jr. – also a running back – has committed to play at Southern Miss.

“It’s amazing,” Gase said last September before New York’s season opener against Buffalo. “If you watched him work day in and day out, it wouldn’t surprise you. We would always say, ‘Hey, we think you should take today off,’ and he would say, ‘On Wednesdays, I practice,’ and he wants every repetition. You’re in full gear and he’s going at it like it’s Sunday. That’s exactly what it looks like.

“That’s how he’s always been. He likes football. There’s no place he’d rather be than the training ground on match day. He loves everything about football.

Gore averaged 4.3 yards per carry during his career, with 80 touchdowns, along with 468 catches for 3,896 yards and 55 scores. He has nine 1,000-yard rushing seasons, although the last one came in 2016, but he has 500 or more yards in 15 straight seasons and 125 or more rushes in 15 straight seasons – both NFL records. NFL.

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