TURN OUT DWIGHT:Content with their secondary depth, the Jets traded defensive back Dwight Lowery to the Jaguars yesterday in addition to the 26 cuts they made to get their roster down to 53. (Reuters)
On the day the Jets trimmed their roster to 53 men, the biggest move the team made was a trade.
The Jets shipped defensive back Dwight Lowery to the Jaguars for a conditional draft pick yesterday. Lowery, a fourth-round pick in 2008, never flourished on the Jets, shuttling between cornerback and safety.
General manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan felt the team had enough depth in the secondary to ship Lowery out.
“When we looked at our secondary we’re pretty much loaded when you have Brodney Pool and Eric Smith came back along with [Emmanuel Cook] and obviously, Jimmy Leonhard is healthy,” Ryan said. “We have depth at corner now. I just think it’s an opportunity for Dwight to go to a place where he’s really going to be used, competing for that starting nickel job. I think it was kind of good for Dwight to go to Jacksonville to get more playing time. For us, we just felt we had the depth we needed in the back end.”
Of the 26 cuts the Jets made, none were very surprising. The most notable bubble player who made the roster was outside linebacker Aaron Maybin, the former first-round pick of the Bills. Long-shot linebackers Garrett McIntyre and Nick Bellore also made the team.
The Jets acquired one player in a trade with the Packers: guard Caleb Schlauderaff. The rookie out of Utah was a sixth-round pick by Green Bay. The Jets hope he can back up the guard positions as well as center.
The Jets surely will make more moves before the opener with the Cowboys next Sunday. One position that’s a question mark right now is their third quarterback. With Greg McElroy out indefinitely after right thumb surgery, Ryan said wide receiver Jeremy Kerley would be the team’s interim third quarterback.
Ex-Jets quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Kevin O’Connell were waived by their respective teams yesterday.
“I don’t want to speculate on any of that,” Ryan said when asked if the team would secure another quarterback before the season opener.
Ryan said the Jets will scour the cuts by other teams today and make a move if they see a player they like.
“That’s always a possibility,” Ryan said. “When we get those rosters of all these teams and guys who’ve been let go then we’ll look over them. If we think there’s an opportunity to upgrade our football team, then obviously we’ve had a history of doing that. We’ll certainly look at all possibilities.”
The trade for Schlauderaff underscores how much of a concern offensive-line depth is for the Jets. They have one of the best starting lines in football, but second-year backup tackle Vlad Ducasse had a terrible preseason.
“I think this helps us,” Ryan said of the trade. “I think without question this helps us. I feel better about our depth now than I did, that’s for sure.”
Here is the full list of players the Jets cut: QB Drew Willy, RB Chris Jennings, WRs Scotty McKnight, Patrick Turner, Michael Campbell, Dan DePalma, TEs Josh Baker, Keith Zinger, OLs Robby Felix, Matt Kroul, Trevor Canfield, Pete Clifford, Dennis Landolt, Nevin McCaskill, Zane Taylor, DLs Jarron Gilbert, Lorenzo Washington, LBs Matthias Berning, Eddie Jones, Joey LaRocque, Brashton Satele, DBs Byron Landor, Ellis Lankster, Davon Morgan, Julian Posey and Tracy Wilson.