With the clock ticking toward the beginning of the 2012 NFL Free Agency period on March 13, ESPN New York reports that the New York Jets "have accelerated talks" with nose tackle Sione Pouha in an effort to keep him from reaching the open market.
Pouha, 33, is widely considered the most important of the 11 unrestricted free agents the Jets could potentially have. The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Pouha has started for the Jets for the past three seasons, and had more than 50 tackles each of the past two years.
Pro Football Focus ranks Pouha second on its list of potential free agent defensive tackles. PFF grades players on a +/- system, and graded Pouha at +30.1 in 2011, the best grade in the league among defensive tackles.
PFF's 'Run Stop Percentage' statistic, which shows how often a player causes an offensive play to fail, showed that among defensive tackles only Broderick Bunkley of Denver had a higher RSP in 2011 than Pouha.