Jets add WR Junior Bergen, waive-injured DT Sheffield

The New York Jets signed wide receiver Junior Bergen and, in a corresponding roster move, waived-injured defensive tackle Sheffield on Monday, according to the club’s official transaction update. The move comes during the late-August window when teams work to set their training-camp rosters and position players for the regular-season cutdowns.

For the Jets, adding Bergen reflects a continued emphasis on building depth at receiver and creating competition in camp. Bergen’s signing places him into the Jets’ offseason evaluation group with the chance to earn a spot on the 53-man roster later in the preseason process, depending on how he performs and how the rest of the wide-receiver group shakes out.

The Sheffield waived-injured designation is a separate personnel step, one that generally indicates a player is dealing with an injury and will be placed through the waiver process. If he clears waivers, a player typically can remain with the club on an injury-related status, depending on the league’s rules and the team’s subsequent actions. The Jets’ decision indicates they are managing both availability and roster math as they move toward the start of the season.

Waived-injured transactions are common in August, but the practical impact depends on whether another team claims the player off waivers or whether he returns to the original club after the waiver period. For the Jets, the key point is that the signing of Bergen and the waived-injured move create a clean slate of roster opportunities for the coaching staff to evaluate receivers while still addressing the defensive interior rotation.

The Jets’ overall approach at this stage is shaped by the NFL’s preseason roster limits, the need to see players in game-speed situations, and the recurring emphasis on special teams and positional versatility. Even when a player is added at one position, the real roster value often emerges from how that player contributes on scout teams, special teams units, and in practice packages.

As of Monday, the Jets have not publicly tied these moves to additional details beyond the transaction actions themselves. The next developments to watch are whether Bergen earns expanded reps with the first- or second-team offense and whether Sheffield’s waiver outcome changes the defensive tackle depth chart as the preseason progresses.

Overall, the Bergen addition and the Sheffield waived-injured processing underscore the Jets’ ongoing roster refinement. In a league where final roster spots can come down to health, timing, and coachability as much as pure talent, these August moves are often early indicators of who the team expects to have the best chance to carry into the regular season.