Jets Tried to Claim D.J. Swearinger

The Texans waived safety D.J. Swearinger earlier this week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were awarded the 2013 second round pick. Manish Mehta reports the Jets were among the teams attempting to land him.

Source: Jets put in a waiver claim for ex-Texans S DJ Swearinger. Maccagnan on staff that drafted him (Bucs got him) pic.twitter.com/Em1uyw1DoN

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) May 13, 2015

It is unusual to see a second round pick cut after his second year. In many cases, this is because the player has shown virtually no promise. That does not seem to be the case here. Swearinger played a fairly prominent role on Houston's defense. One report says the issue was a clash with the coaching staff. The fact one quarter of the league put in a claim on Swearinger also shows what talent evaluators think of his ability.

It isn't a huge surprise the Jets would try to land Swearinger. Mike Maccagnan was part of the front office that scouted Swearinger for Houston. On one level, though, it is striking to see the Jets make a move for additional secondary help after all they invested during the offseason. Swearinger might have displaced somebody with a fairly high profile.

It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it is nice to see the Jets look to improve using every resource available to them. It's easy to talk about getting competitiony. It's something else to actually target a young player with some degree of talent at a position that isn't a need.