Update for future record, in case someone searches the issue.
I entered my foreign passport info before departure on the airline website (Delta FlyReady) and it all worked flawlessly; not a question asked.
Now, I already replaced the passport information with my about to expire US passport and the airline shows all green, ready to go.
Note: I checked in at SFO and got the DOCS OK boarding pass. On boarding at JFK I did not have to show BP, nor passport. They had a camera, which recognized me (I guess from the scanned passport information)
Thank you all for the good advice.