diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index ebf477f9..d7b392aa 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
         <icu4j.version>72.1</icu4j.version>
         <hsqldb.version>2.6.1</hsqldb.version>
         <jaxb2basics.version>0.6.0</jaxb2basics.version>
-        <jackson.version>2.9.10</jackson.version>
+        <jackson.version>2.14.1</jackson.version>
         <logbackVersion>1.4.4</logbackVersion>
         <pluto.version>2.1.0-M3</pluto.version>
         <sl4jVersion>1.7.36</sl4jVersion>
@@ -52,6 +52,22 @@
             <id>java.net repository</id>
             <url>http://download.java.net/maven/2</url>
         </repository>
+	<repository>
+            <id>Mulesoft</id>
+            <name>Mulesoft Repository</name>
+            <!-- mirror of most Codehaus artifacts -->
+            <url>https://repository.mulesoft.org/nexus/content/repositories/public</url>
+            <releases>
+                <enabled>true</enabled>
+            </releases>
+            <snapshots>
+                <enabled>false</enabled>
+            </snapshots>
+        </repository>
+        <repository>
+            <id>3rd-party-embedded</id>
+            <url>file://${project.basedir}/3rd-party/repository</url>
+        </repository>
     </repositories>
 
     <dependencyManagement>
@@ -583,6 +599,11 @@
             <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
             <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
+            <version>3.1.2</version>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
     <build>
@@ -792,7 +813,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.2.0</version>
+                <version>3.1.2</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <configLocation>google_checks.xml</configLocation>
                 </configuration>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkService.java b/src/main/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkService.java
index 508b708c..f90c24c7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkService.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public static ResourceLink jsonToLink(final String json) {
         ResourceLink link = null;
         try {
             link = mapper.readValue(json, ResourceLink.class);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
+        } catch (Exception e) {
             log.error("Unable to parse JSON to ResourceLink: " + json, e);
         }
         return link;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkServiceTest.java b/src/test/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkServiceTest.java
index 4762240b..e81645e6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkServiceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/jasig/portlet/widget/links/ResourceLinkServiceTest.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public void testToJson() {
         assertNull(ResourceLinkService.linkToJson(null));
     }
 
-    @Test(expected = NullPointerException.class)
+    @Test
     public void testFromJson() {
         final ResourceLink link = createLink();
         final ResourceLink jsonLink = ResourceLinkService.jsonToLink(JSON);