NY Jets: Cuts Are Coming

The New York Jets selected nine players in the 2020 NFL draft. Draft picks are added to the roster immediately upon being selected. Adding those nine players to the 78 already on the roster, after the draft the Jets had 87 players on the roster.

As soon as the draft is over, reports begin to trickle in about the undrafted free agents signed by the team. Various reports to date have the Jets signing eight or nine undrafted free agents. Adding those players to the roster would give the Jets about 95 or 96 players on the roster. But the offseason roster is capped at 90 players. No team can have more than 90 players on the roster at any time. So what gives?

The answer lies in the fluid nature of the undrafted free agent contracts. Reports are often couched in language like “so and so is expected to sign with the Jets.” Most often those reports turn out to be true, but every once in a while an undrafted free agent changes his mind before signing, or the original report is inaccurate, and said undrafted free agent never makes it onto the Jets roster. As of today it’s likely few, if any, of the reported Jets undrafted free agent signings actually have signed contracts in hand, so they are not yet on the roster. But if things go as they usually do this time of year, in a few days the Jets will officially announce the signing of most of the undrafted free agents reported to be headed this way. Before that happens, room will need to be made on the Jets roster so that they don’t go over the 90 player cap. That means that in the next few days several players currently on the Jets roster are likely to be cut or traded. So for those of you wondering how such and such player is still on the Jets roster, wait a few days. You just might see those players become ex-Jets very soon.