Slightly less than an hour before the beginning of their first rookie minicamp practice (which will start at 12:30 p.m. Eastern), the New York Jets announced the release of six players.
The only two of the six players to ever appear in a regular season game for the Jets are cornerback Kyron Brown, who played three games in 2019 and recorded five tackles, and wide receiver Jaleel Scott, who played one game in 2020 and caught one 16-yard pass.
Wide receiver Josh Doctson is the biggest name of the group. A first-round pick in 2016, Doctson never lived up to his potential in Washington and had an uneventful season with the Vikings in 2019. The Jets picked him up in 2020 with hopes of rejuvenating his career, but he decided to opt out of his age-28 season.
The release of Chase McLaughlin leaves two kickers on the roster: Sam Ficken and undrafted free agent signee Chris Naggar. As things stand right now, it appears Ficken and Naggar are set to battle it out for the kicking job. Jets fans will be hoping that Naggar can prove to be an upgrade over Ficken, who struggled over his past two seasons in New York. From 2019-20, Ficken ranked 30th out of 34 qualified kickers in field goal percentage (76.2%) and dead-last in extra point percentage (85.4%).
Tight end Connor Davis and offensive lineman Leo Koloamatangi were also among the released players. Safety Saquan Hampton was placed on the reserve/PUP list.
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