I’m not late to the party, I am just late to the posting.

On Tuesday, the Jets announced the signing of offensive tackles Stephon Heyer and Ray Willis.

Stephen Heyer was drafted by the Washington Redskins in 2007. He played four seasons in Washington  before joining the Oakland Raiders as an UFA in 2011. Heyer also provides some position flexibility for the line. He played guard for the Raiders after playing at both tackle positions in Washington.

Ray Willis was drafted by the Seahawks in 2005. He played 5 seasons with the team; his last season was spent on injured reserve. He signed with the New Orleans Saints as a FA last summer and was released by the team in November.

Willis played with the Dolphins in training camp last season before joining the Saints, so there is a connection to OC Tony Sparano.

Despite new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo’s insistence that Wayne Hunter is the starting right tackle and  that Vlad Ducasse is his back-up, I think it’s pretty safe to say that both Heyer and Willis were brought on board to push the young lineman. I would also imagine this is insurance in the event that Hunter does not progress from last year like we have been lead to believe.

Listen, DeGuglielmo’s impassioned Hunter-is-a-gladiator speech is nice and all, but I still need to see Hunter out there protecting Mark Sanchez (yeah, I said Sanchez. So there.) to believe it.

Don’t forget these words from Guglielmo: “Until they ship him out of here or shoot me dead in my office, the guy’s the starting right tackle.” Let’s hope, for Guglielmo’s sake, Wayne Hunter is the starting right tackle.

Quick Hits

• According to Jake Steinberg, the Jets have signed UDFA TE Tarren Lloyd from Utah State. According to Jake, Lloyd is big blocking TE (6-7, 258lbs.). UPDATE: The team has announced the signing on Lloyd.
• A very happy birthday to Joe Namath.
• CB Darrelle Revis was unable to guarantee the media that he would be participating in training camp this year. He would only say he’s, “Getting ready for this season.” I have decided not to write a story on something we already know, so let this serve as my story about this story.