Jets cut tracker: Roster narrowed down to 53

Xavier Cooper, Charles Johnson among cuts

9/2/2018, 3:11 AM
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Christian Hackenberg fumbles the football while being sacked by New York Jets defensive tackle Xavier Cooper and safety J.J. Wilcox during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Christian Hackenberg fumbles the football while being sacked by New York Jets defensive tackle Xavier Cooper and safety J.J. Wilcox during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

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All NFL teams were required to cut their rosters from 90 players to 53 by 4 p.m. on Saturday. That means the Jets, who had 89 players on their roster, made 36 moves.

Below is our running list of their cuts and other transactions:

1. WR ArDarius Stewart will be placed on the suspended list (2 games)

2. CB Rashard Robinson will be placed on the suspended list (4 games)

3. LB Kevin Pierre-Louis will be placed on the suspended list (1 game)

4. FB Dmitri Flowers

5. DL Xavier Cooper

6. WR Charles Johnson

7. OL Darius James

8. OL Gino Gradkowski

9. OL Antonio Garcia

10. LB Obum Gwacham

11. DL Kendal Reyes

12. LB David Bass 

13. DL Mych Thomas

14. DB Terrell Sinkfield

15. LB Kevin Minter

16. QB John Wolford

17. RB George Atkinson

18. OL Alex Balducci

19. OL Dakoda Shepley

20. S Kacy Rodgers II

21. CB Xavier Coleman

22. K Taylor Bertolet

23. LB Anthony Wint

24. LB Frankie Luvu

25. S Brandon Bryant

26. LB Lorenzo Mauldin

27. S Rontez Miles (will be moved to the regular season PUP list)

28. DT Deon Simon

29. RB Thomas Rawls

30. CB Jeremy Clark

31. TE Clive Walford

32. WR Tre McBride

33. WR Chad Hansen

34. LB Dylan Donahue

35. C Travis Swanson

36. RB Charcandrick West


The Jets have entrusted their future into the hands of GM Mike Maccagnan, but if he's going to justify their faith, he's going to have to draft a lot better than he's done in recent years.

Just how questionable some of his drafts have been was evident on cut-down day when some of the last remnants of his first Jets draft in 2015 were obliterated and a significant chunk of last year's draft class disappeared, too. Among the cuts on Saturday were LB Lorenzo Mauldin and NT Deon Simon, his third-round and seventh-round picks in 2015.

The only player left from that six-man class is Maccagnan's first-rounder, Leonard Williams. All the others have been cut.

He's got most of his 2016 draft class intact, with the notable exception of second-round QB Christian Hackenberg, but he lost three of his 2017 picks on Saturday, too. The Jets cut fourth-round receiver Chad Hansen, fifth-round linebacker Dylan Donahue and sixth-round cornerback Jeremy Clark. It's worth noting that his third-round pick, WR ArDarius Stewart, was moved to the reserve/suspended list so he can begin serving a two game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on PEDs.

On the bright side, he kept all his 2018 picks, and he still has a few big players from his draft history, like Williams and last year's first-rounder Jamal Adams. But this cut-down day proved that even Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles understand how deep their draft failures have run. If they really want to build a contender around rookie quarterback Sam Darnold in the near future, their success rate will have to change.

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