The Jets claimed three players off waivers following cutdown day in the NFL. Let’s discuss how these three could impact the team in 2025 and beyond.
Jelani Woods
The last time Woods played in the NFL he had a successful season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that last time was the 2022 season. Woods missed all of 2023 with a hamstring injury and all of 2024 with turf toe.
When a player misses back-to-back seasons with two separate soft tissue injuries, it is fair to wonder whether he will hold up. At the very
least, it seems like the Jets should be concerned about how often he will be on the field in 2025.
But it’s important to remember he wasn’t a big money free agent signing. Woods was acquired off the waiver wire. The players found on waivers almost all have some issue or question mark.
The good news for the Jets is that the questions around Woods don’t involve his ability. By all accounts he had a strong preseason with the Colts and was caught up in a numbers game at tight end.
I think this is the exact type of player the Jets should be rolling the dice on. It’s not inconceivable that Woods is currently the best tight end on the roster and could take over the TE1 role once he gets up to speed on the playbook. Mason Taylor is certainly a player the Jets have a lot invested in, but he is a rookie and missed part of training camp with an injury. It might be in Taylor’s best interest to be brought along slowly in the TE2 role.
If Taylor is the top guy, though, Woods offers the Jets a potential quality TE2.
The bottom line is that if Woods is healthy he should have a role on this team. It’s rare you can say that about a waiver wire addition.
Cam Jones
Jones is nominally listed as a linebacker, but make no mistake about it. The Jets brought him in to play special teams. He participated in two-thirds of the special teams snaps for the Chiefs in both 2023 and 2024. A year ago he was the team’s leader in special teams tackles.
For the last few spots the 53 man roster, it felt like the Jets were considering special teams ability in roster decisions. It’s a logic approach to take. In most of their games, the Jets will be the less talented team. One way to bridge the gap is to dominate in the game’s third phase.
Jones could see some time at linebacker in the event a flood of injuries creates an emergency at the position, but his focus will be on special teams. Expect him to be active in Week 1, and don’t be surprised if you hear his name called.
Esa Pole
Pole was probably the most hyped of the three players the Jets claimed this week. Ironically, he is by far the least likely to make an impact on the team.
An undrafted free agent out of Washington State, Pole had a strong preseason with the Chiefs. He didn’t allow a pressure on 49 pass blocking snaps or commit a penalty in 68 total snaps. Many observers around the Chiefs thought he was a strong contender to make the roster.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Jets placing a waiver claim on Pole. In fact, I like adding a developmental offensive lineman on the roster. He replaced Marquis Hayes on the roster. Hayes is a 26 year old entering his fourth year in the NFL. It was getting difficult to imagine that Hayes was going to develop into something more. Pole has the physical attributes to potentially develop into something in the NFL.
It just might be good to not get carried away with expectations here. You’d rather a player have a strong preseason than a weak preseason, but one full game and change worth of reps against backups in the preseason doesn’t tell us a whole lot about a player’s potential. Recent Jets history alone is full of preseason stars the Jets fanbase claimed the team would regret cutting. Few of these players had any NFL career of note.
The waiver claim on Pole was a logical move. We just shouldn’t be under any illusions that Pole is vastly more likely to pan out than any other developmental UDFA lineman.
