Jets release K Greg Zuerlein

Zuerlein enjoyed a strong pair of seasons upon arrival in New York, connecting on 86.7% of his field goal attempts over that stretch. The Jets aimed to keep him in the fold last spring, and a two-year pact was indeed agreed to in March. Instead of collecting a $4.1MM salary for 2025, though, Zuerlein will hit free agency late in the offseason.

Cutting the 37-year-old will create $2.42MM in cap savings for New York. The team will incur a $2.31MM dead charge as a result. Of course, finances are not the only factor which drove this decision. Zuerlein struggled during his eight appearances last season while spending much of the year on the sidelines due to injury.

A large audition period was held in the middle of the campaign as a result of Zuerlein’s struggles and ailments. That led to deals for Riley Patterson and Spencer Shrader in October, although neither of them remain on the team at this point. The only other experienced kicker currently on the Jets’ roster is Anders Carlson, who split his time between San Francisco and New York last season following his brief Packers tenure. The 26-year-old connected on eight of 10 field goal attempts in five games for the Jets before signing a futures deal in January.

New York did not draft a kicker last month, although Caden Davis was among the 15 undrafted free agents added to the team’s rookie class recently. The Ole Miss product will compete with Carlson during the summer, although more options could be added before training camp. Zuerlein, meanwhile, will likely struggle to generate a market given his age and poor showing when on the field last year. The former All-Pro could nevertheless get a look in the event of injuries or underwhelming showings around the league in the near future.

This marks the second key special teams move in recent days for the Jets. On Tuesday, the team cut veteran punter Thomas Morstead. A new group of specialists will be in place for 2025.