Devastating Torn Achilles Saved Career of Jets’ $45 Million MVP

10 years ago, a torn Achilles could end your sports career.

Even now, it’s a devastating injury that knocks you out typically for a year at a minimum, and sometimes players are never the same.

Jamien Sherwood, 25, entered the league as the No. 146 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft. A couple of months into his rookie season with the New York Jets, Sherwood suffered a blown Achilles.

Four years later, Sherwood explained to ESPN’s Rich Cimini how that injury actually saved his NFL career.

“Honestly, without that injury, I would’ve never done what I needed to do to get to this point,” Sherwood told Cimini. “Being sidelined, I got closer to God. I had time to get my body right, with rehab and stuff like that.”

Sherwood Needed Time to Marinate and Thankfully the Jets Provided It

Sherwood was a fifth-round draft choice in 2021. Every year, fifth-round picks who are selected in April get cut from their respective teams months later.

Sherwood’s challenge was tougher than most. He played safety at the college football level. Upon being drafted by the Jets, he was informed of an immediate position change to linebacker.

In Week 7 of his rookie campaign, Sherwood tore his Achilles and missed the rest of that season.

Cimini said Sherwood maximized his downtime by gaining some “much-needed weight.”

He entered the league at 216 pounds, but Cimini described him now as a “chiseled” 230-pounder who has maintained “excellent speed for the position.”

People Forget That Sherwood Was the First Puzzle Piece of New Regime

The quarter-of-a-billion-dollar investment in Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson in back-to-back days ahead of training camp stole the headlines.

However, months earlier, the Jets’ decision to keep Jamien Sherwood was the first domino of this new regime’s mission.

“I think the one philosophy that me & Darren [Mougey] want to make sure is the guys that we draft here, that we raise here, that understand what it is to be a Jet, we want to keep those men here,” head coach Aaron Glenn explained on “The Offseason: Chapter One.”

A NEW ERA! #Jets HC Aaron Glenn explained how important it is for this regime to take care of their own:

‘I think the one philosophy that me & Darren [Mougey] want to make sure is the guys that we draft here, that we raise here, that understand what it is to be a Jet, we want… pic.twitter.com/FmmY31AfMY

— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) May 14, 2025

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Sherwood obviously wasn’t selected by this regime. However, they determined very quickly that he was exactly the type of player they wanted to build around.

Sherwood received a three-year $45 million contract. That $15 million annual salary is top-five at his position.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Sherwood evolved from a quiet guy who rotated in at linebacker and played some special teams to becoming one of the top leaders on the team.

Sherwood wasn’t supposed to be here. Yet the NFL, with an oblong-shaped ball, works in mysterious ways. C.J. Mosley gets hurt, a starting job opens up, Sherwood takes advantage, and the rest is history.

He had a career season, was named team MVP, and received a contract that richly rewarded him for those successes.

Now what?

The rest of the NFL won’t be surprised by him, and neither will his teammates. Expectations have only risen over the last couple of months.