Kris Jenkins Retires: How Does It Change New York Jets' 2011 Free-Agency Plans?

The New York Jets already had several questions facing them in free agency, ranging from Braylon Edwards to Santonio Holmes to Shaun Ellis to Antonio Cromartie and much more.

With free agency coming right around the corner, all of those questions are coming to the forefront. They're covered in so many questions they're beginning to look like the Riddler.

Now, they have one more question to pile onto the list, after the retirement of Kris Jenkins, as announced by NFL.com.

The question now is whether this changes their approach to free agency. With so many key free agents, it already figured to be tough for them. Now, with the latest news, this could be an even more difficult free-agency period for the Jets.

The 3-4 nose tackle is the most important piece to the puzzle. His ability to soak up blockers frees up the other players in the front seven to make plays.

His loss is lessened, however, by the fact that he hasn't been the guy doing that over the past two years. He has ended both of the previous seasons on injured reserve, landing there in Week 1 of 2010. He has played a combined seven games in that span.

In his stead, Sione Pouha led the fourth-ranked Jets defensive hogs, and helped them hold opposing rushers to just 3.57 yards per attempt, the third-best average in the league.

On its own, Jenkins' loss isn't that big. However, Shaun Ellis is a free agent this year as well. He has been a mainstay of the Jets defensive line for the past 11 years. Couple the two together, and top-end depth could be a concern.

One thing to think about is which free agents will take precedence with that news. Before, Ellis didn't figure to be a top priority with all the offensive firepower the Jets could potentially lose—wide receivers Edwards, Holmes and Brad Smith. The Jets must ask themselves how much they value continuity on the defensive line, as well as keeping their proven veterans on the roster.

Considering the poor play we saw from their second- and third-stringers in last year's preseason, the Jets really can't afford to lose too much of their top-end talent on defense.

Of course, the Jets drafted two defensive linemen in April, selecting Muhammad Wilkerson in the first round and Kenrick Ellis in the third. The shortened training camp period means the Jets don't have much time to get those guys up to speed in the system.

They may both be talented down the road, but the expectations for immediate return on investment should be somewhat low for all rookies this year.

Still, I think Rex Ryan is confident (really? Ryan, confident?) rolling into the season with the current group of guys, but will that group include Ellis?

There's little doubt that, when healthy, Jenkins was one of the best nose tackles in the league. The fact that the Jets defense did okay without him should be promising for Jets fans, but the Jets must figure out where their priorities lie before the offseason officially begins sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.