NEW YORK (AP) — Running back Frank Gore has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the New York Jets, agent Drew Rosenhaus announced.
Gore, who turns 37 next Thursday, will join a Jets backfield that also includes Le’Veon Bell and fourth-round draft pick La’Mical Perine. Gore is third on the NFL’s career rushing list with 15,269 yards.
The Jets had not yet announced the signing Tuesday, but it 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.
ESPN first reported the agreement between the Jets and Gore, who trails only Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726) in yards rushing.
Gore spent last season with Buffalo, where he ran for a career-low 599 yards in 16 games while sharing the backfield with rookie Devin Singletary. The veteran had two touchdown runs and also caught 13 passes for 100 yards.
He spent his first 10 NFL seasons with San Francisco after being selected in the third round out of the University of Miami in 2005. Gore then played three seasons with Indianapolis before playing one year each for Miami and Buffalo.
In Gore’s latest stop in the AFC East — he now has only not been with New England — he could help keep Bell fresh while also providing mentorship to Perine. The Jets also have Josh Adams, Trenton Cannon, Kenneth Dixon and Jalin Moore on the roster.
Gase raved last season about Gore’s professionalism and ability to play at a high level despite being at an age when most NFL players — let alone running backs — are long retired.
“It’s unbelievable,” 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’s like, “Wednesdays, I’m practicing,” and he wants every rep. You’re in full pads and he’s going at it like it’s Sunday. That’s just how he looks.
“That’s how he’s always been. He loves football. There’s no other place he’d rather be than the practice field, gameday. Everything about football, he loves.”
