New York Jets

Azareye'h Thomas

CB

The cornerback's 2025 season ended in December when he suffered the shoulder injury. A third-round pick a year ago, Thomas played in 12 games and on 311 defensive snaps as a rookie, recording seven pass breakups. He should be in the mix for a role again as 2026 approaches.

Da'Quan Felton

WR

The wide receiver agreed to a deal with the Giants as an undrafted free agent last April, got waived with an injury designation before the 2025 campaign, spent the season on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue and got waived again by the G-Men in April. Now, Felton will try to find a home with the other New York team. The Virginia Tech product caught 70 passes for 1,027 yards and 10 touchdowns in two seasons with the Hokies.

Bailey Zappe

QB

Zappe has nine career regular-season starts, giving him more experience than fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik and second-year pro Brady Cook. With Geno Smith locked in as the team's starter, Zappe, Klubnik and Cook are competing in an "open competition" for the backup role, per Cimini.

Garrett Wilson

WR

"This is probably one of the offenses that I'm going to look back on in a few years and love the most," Wilson said Thursday, adding that he appreciates the empowering nature of Reich's approach, which leaves more decisions in receivers' hands during plays. Wilson overcame subpar coaching and quarterback play to exceed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three NFL seasons, but the 2022 first-round pick had just 395 receiving yards in 2025 while missing 10 games due to a knee injury, from which Wilson has since recovered.

Cade York

PK

It's unclear if the issue is serious and will require York to miss time beyond this week, though it likely contributed to New York's recent signing of Younghoe Koo, according to Cimini. York signed a one-year deal with the Jets in March after not seeing any regular-season action in 2025.

Kenyon Sadiq

TE

Glenn said the first-round rookie will be ready for training camp later this summer after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia. While listed as a tight end, Sadiq is expected to mainly line up detached from the line as more of a receiver with the Jets, allowing Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert to handle more of the traditional tight end duties.

Younghoe Koo

PK

Koo spent time with the Falcons, his original NFL team, as well as the Giants in 2025, combining to make six of nine field-goal attempts and 13 of 14 extra-point tries in six regular-season games (one with Atlanta and five with New York). With the Jets, the 31-year-old will have a chance to compete for kicking duties with Cade York and Lenny Krieg.

Brady Cook

QB

Cook got to audition as the Jets' starting quarterback down the stretch in 2025, but the undrafted rookie out of Missouri struggled to a 2:7 TD:INT across five appearances (four starts). The Jets traded for Smith and have already proclaimed the veteran to be their starting quarterback. They also drafted Klubnik out of Clemson, who has thrown the ball well in drills and impressed with his leadership skills. The team could still opt to bring in a veteran backup QB, but as things stand, Cook should get a chance during training camp and the preseason to compete for the top backup role against Klubnik and Bailey Zappe.

Isaiah Davis

RB

Davis and Braelon Allen have had time to recover from the respective concussion and knee injury that sidelined them to close out the 2025 campaign. The pair of 2024 Day 3 draft picks remain the top backups on the roster behind recently extended starter Breece Hall. Davis has averaged an impressive 5.6 yards per carry on 73 rushing attempts over his first two NFL seasons.

Braelon Allen

RB

The Jets appear content to bring back the same running back room they had last season, with Hall leading the way while Allen and Isaiah Davis fill backup roles. Allen has had time recover from an MCL injury suffered last October, which carried a return timetable of 8-to-12 weeks at that point. While the 2024 fourth-round draft pick out of Wisconsin has impressed in practice, Allen will likely continue to cede the majority of backfield opportunities to Hall, who agreed to a three-year, $45.75 million extension with the Jets earlier in the offseason.

Tim Patrick

WR

In 16 regular-season games with the Jaguars in 2025, the 32-year-old caught 15 of his 24 targets for 187 yards and three touchdowns. With the Jets, Patrick will add veteran presence to his new team's wide receiver room while bringing inside-outside flexibility to the table. As things stand, Patrick figures to compete for rotational WR snaps behind Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell and Omar Cooper.

Gus Hartwig

C

Hartwig was waived by the Jets due to an undisclosed issue that caused him to fail his physical. The center was not claimed off waivers and now will remain on the reserve/PUP list while he recovers from his issue.

Landon Young

OT

Young appeared in 56 games with 12 starts over his first four seasons with the Saints, but he spent the entire 2025 campaign on IR with an ankle injury. The 2021 sixth-round pick was one of 31 tryout players during the Jets' rookie minicamp, and he is heading into his age-29 season.

Chase Curtis

TE

Curtis spent six years at TCU but never posted more than 167 receiving yards in a season. The 6-foot-4, 241-pound tight end ran a 4.68 40-yard dash at his pro day, and without much receiving upside, he'll need to make an impact as a blocker and a gunner on special teams to nab a 53-man roster spot.

Chip Trayanum

RB

Trayanum made four stops during his six-year college career, ultimately breaking out in 2025 with Toledo by rushing 182 times for 1,015 yards (5.6 YPC) and 12 touchdowns while adding 21 receptions for 212 yards and two scores. He's a bigger running back (5-foot-11, 224 pounds) who ran an impressive 4.50 40-yard dash for his size. He'll have a difficult time securing a roster spot, however, as Breece Hall, Braelon Allen (knee) and Isaiah Davis are all on the roster heading into the offseason program.

DT Sheffield

WR

Sheffield played a season apiece at Washington State and North Texas before ending his college career at Rutgers. The wide receiver totaled 44 receptions for 557 yards and five touchdowns over 12 games in 2025. Sheffield's speed and suddenness mean that if he can produce at training camp, he may have a chance to see a few targets a year as a field-stretching option.

Malik McClain

WR

McClain played for Florida State and Penn State before finishing his college career with Arizona State. The wide receiver caught 31 receptions for 441 yards and one touchdown over 13 games in 2025, with his one score coming via a 42-yard reception on a trick play against Texas. Amidst a packed wide-receiver depth chart, McClain will really have to show out at training camp to survive cutdown day.

Caullin Lacy

WR

Lacy played four years with South Alabama before transferring to Louisville for the final two years of his collegiate career. The wide receiver caught 60 receptions for 635 yards and two touchdowns over 13 games in 2025. Lacy is undersized, but his vision and acceleration could potentially earn him a gadget role as the No. 4 or 5 receiver on an NFL roster.

Breece Hall

RB

With an average annual value of $15.25 million on the deal, Hall becomes the third-highest paid running back in the NFL behind the Eagles' Saquon Barkley ($20.6 million) and the 49ers' Christian McCaffrey ($19 million). Despite being in mostly dreadful offenses in four seasons since the Jets selected him in the second round of the 2022 Draft, Hall has averaged 1,453 yards from scrimmage and 7.3 touchdowns per year over the last three campaigns. He even put together the first 1,000-yard season on the ground of his career (1,065, to be exact) in 2025. Moving forward, Hall will remain the engine of New York's offense.

Will McDonald IV

DE

McDonald has tallied 18.5 sacks in 32 games over the last two seasons, so it comes as little surprise that the Jets have opted to keep him under their control through the end of the 2027 season. Even though the club recently used the second overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on defensive end David Bailey, McDonald figures to get about as much work as he can handle during the upcoming campaign.

VJ Payne

S

Payne started 42 games as a four-year defensive back at Kansas State. In his final season, Payne posted 59 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, five pass breakups and an interception. The 22-year-old is a dependable tackler who played all around the formation in college. There's still work to do in coverage, but he's big (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) with some of the longest arms for a safety in the draft (33 and 6/8 inches), and his athleticism (4.40 40-yard dash) should make him a strong special-teams option if he can't crack the defensive rotation right away.

Anez Cooper

G

The Jets sent the Seahawks a seventh-round pick to move up 11 spots and take Cooper. Through four years at Miami, Cooper started 45 games at right guard. Cooper's an imposing force at 6-foot-6, 334 pounds and should be considered a solid backup on the interior of the Jets' offensive line.

Cade Klubnik

QB

Klubnik's college career didn't end with his most impressive campaign of the bunch, but he put up 3,639 passing yards and a 36:6 TD:INT ratio as a junior in 2024 and still completed 65.6 percent of his pass attempts for 2,943 yards as a senior for Clemson, amassing a 16:6 TD:INT ratio to close things out. Klubnik boasts the measurables necessary for the position and more than enough athleticism, but he struggles getting through his reads and tends to leave the pocket earlier than necessary. While Geno Smith is locked into the starting gig in New York for the next couple of years on a two-year, $75 million contract, Klubnik should have a chance to claim the top backup job from Brady Cook, who really struggled when thrust into starting duties late in the 2025 campaign.

Darrell Jackson Jr.

DT

Jackson spent the last three seasons of his five-year college career with Florida State. He operated as an effective run stopper on the Seminoles' interior defensive line, and he was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention in each of 2024 and 2025. He ended his senior year with 45 total tackles, including 1.0 sacks, across 12 games. Jackson has the size and strength to beat blockers and wreak havoc in the interior line, and he'll be an intriguing developmental project under Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. Jackson is slated to work in rotation with T'Vondre Sweat, Harrison Phillips and Mazi Smith.

D'Angelo Ponds

CB

Ponds wasn't heavily recruited out of high school due to his 5-foot-8 size, and that might be an issue for him at the NFL level. However, he didn't let that lack of size get in the way of a successful three-year college career that culminated in a National College Championship victory in 2025 with Indiana. During that season, Ponds was selected to both the All-American Second-Team and All-Big Ten First-Team after logging 61 tackles, one forced fumble and 12 pass defenses (two interceptions) across 15 games. The Jets needed to address the outside cornerback position after trading Sauce Gardner (calf) to the Colts in November, and Ponds will compete for a starting job against the likes of Azareye'h Thomas (shoulder) and Qwan'tez Stiggers (knee).