David Bailey is signed, practicing for the Jets and providing a blast from the past for Aaron Glenn
FLORHAM PARK, N. J. (AP) — David Bailey gave coach Aaron Glenn a small dose of nostalgia when he took the practice field for the first time with the New York Jets.
The No. 2 pick in the NFL draft is wearing No. 31 — the same jersey number Glenn wore while playing eight seasons with the Jets.
“I really didn't notice that until he picked it here,” a smiling Glenn said Friday after the Jets' first rookie minicamp practice. “He has to show out, I guess, with that number. " The Jets are banking on that.
Bailey was the highest-selected defensive player taken in the NFL draft by the franchise after a breakout season at Texas Tech. Considered by many the most pro-ready edge rusher in the draft, the 22-year-old Bailey signed his rookie deal — a four-year contract worth about $54. 7 million, fully guaranteed — earlier in the day.
After Bailey flew to New Jersey from Pittsburgh the day after the draft two weeks ago, Glenn provided some proof that he and his new pass rusher have something in common. “I was with my mom and my sister and we were just sitting there in his office and he actually told me,” Bailey said. “He showed me like a little poster board of his jersey.