Despite not getting too many touches during his third NFL season, Chris Ivory of the New Orleans Saints, a restricted free agent, is getting some interest from teams around the league, especially from the New York Jets, who need a lot of help in their running game, even if it will cost them a second round pick.

Ivory, 24, got only 40 carries last season for the Saints, picking up 217 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Despite not being used much, averaging over 5 yards per carry through his career (5.4 last season) suggests that there’s good reason to try and put the football more in his hands. He led the Saints in rushing back in 2010, but injuries have hurt his position on the Saints’ running back committee, falling down to fourth in the depth chart behind Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles.

While the news from New Orleans suggest that by keeping Ivory they’ll cut Pierre Thomas, it depends on whether or not the Jets make an offer for Ivory, hoping he can be a nice complement to Mike Goodson, who is also a three year veteran without too many touches and yards on his resume.

Another issue is the second round pick the Saints will receive if they do not match the offer from the Jets for Ivroy. While the Jets are only thinking about rebuilding through the draft and acquiring as many picks as possible, there is some sense to using that second-round pick on Ivory if they know they can make up for it in the Darrelle Revis trade, which is a saga that is far from over.

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