The timing, as it turns out, is a bit ironic.
Two days before Kevin Mawae — the Jets’ center for eight seasons and one of the best, most consistent players ever to wear their green-and-white uniform — was to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday (7 p.m. on ESPN and NFL Network), his former team lured Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil out of retirement.
If they could have brought Mawae back, the Jets would have done it.
Since Nick Mangold retired in 2016 after 11 seasons with the Jets, the center position has been manned rather inadequately by Wesley Johnson in 2017 and Spencer Long last season.