Jets cut roster to 52 players, leaving one spot after late roster deadline

The New York Jets moved quickly to comply with the NFL’s required roster reduction to 53 players by the 6 p.m. ET deadline on Sunday, according to Pro Football Rumors. After the flurry of moves, the Jets were down to 52 players on the active roster, which meant they had one additional available roster spot.

Cutdown day for NFL teams is usually a mix of roster management and risk management, with clubs balancing depth needs against injury protection and practice-squad availability. In this case, Pro Football Rumors reported that the Jets released or waived 32 players and sent six others to injured reserve or physically unable to perform designations, allowing the team to reduce its count while protecting players from immediate roster requirements.

Among the players the Jets released were offensive lineman Xavier Newman-Johnson, cornerback Samuel Womack, offensive lineman Landon Young, and quarterback Bailey Zappe. The report also included a waiver action involving defensive back Mory Bamba, with the remainder of the waiver list not shown in the portion of the item available to this write-up.

These types of cutdowns can reshape the short-term depth chart even when no regular-season action has started. Releasing a player is an immediate roster count change, while waiving a player can create a chance for another team to claim him if they value the skill set and fit. Moving players to IR or PUP is a different lever, one that can preserve a player’s eligibility for later return while keeping the active roster at the correct number.

For the Jets, the reported one remaining available spot suggests there is room for either a final internal adjustment or an acquisition from outside the organization before the roster locks into its finalized form. The Jets have used late summer roster activity in recent years to prioritize specific skill-set matches and special-teams roles, so the final spot can carry outsized importance for who is on the gameday 46-man active list.

It is also worth noting that roster-cut reports on cutdown day are often detailed but can still be incomplete in a secondary reporting format. While Pro Football Rumors provided a clear outline of the count (52) and the types of roster moves (releases/waivers plus IR/PUP placements), confirming the full list of waivers and designations typically requires cross-checking official NFL transactions and team roster postings after the deadline.