The New York Jets open 2022 training camp Wednesday with an improved roster and hopes for better days this season. The Jets went just 4-13 in Robert Saleh's first season as head coach, which came after a 2-14 campaign in Adam Gase's last season at the helm.
With some roster upgrades, New York is hoping for a big turnaround. Most of the starting positions are locked down, but there will be several battles for roster spots in the coming weeks.
To that end, here are the top players on the bubble who could be cut during training camp.
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Jets 2022 Training Camp Cut Candidates
La’Mical Perine
Barring injury to one or more of the running backs ahead of him on the depth chart, there is little chance La’Mical Perine lands a spot on the Jets' final roster this season.
The third-year pro fell out of the rotation last season under a new coaching staff and dressed for just four games. Perine had eight carries for 31 yards last season after the fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft rushed for 232 yards on 64 carries as a rookie.
Rookie Breece Hall, second-year pro Michael Carter, Tevin Coleman and Ty Johnson all are ahead of Perine on the depth chart, with Hall and Carter expected to do the majority of heavy lifting at running back in the 2022 season.
Eddy Pineiro and Greg Zuerlein
The two kickers on the roster are grouped together because at least one and quite possibly both will be cut before Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens.
Neither kicker distinguished himself during OTAs and minicamp, and the Jets will be scanning other team’s cuts looking for an upgrade at the position.
Since Jason Myers had a Pro Bowl season in 2018, the Jets are 31st in field goal percentage and 32nd in extra point conversions. They have cycled through seven kickers in that span (Kaare Vedvik, Chase McLaughlin, Sergio Castillo, Sam Ficken, Matt Ammendola, Alex Kessman and Eddy Pineiro).
Pineiro, who was with the Chicago Bears in 2019, is the incumbent after kicking in the final five games of the 2021 season. He made all eight of his field goal attempts and was 9-of-10 on extra points.
Greg Zuerlein, 34, may have the leg up — pardon the pun — in the competition, however, because of his resume. He has nailed 82 percent of his field goal attempts over 10 NFL seasons with the Rams and Dallas Cowboys and had a career-best 80 percent touchback rate on kickoffs last season with Dallas. That’s an area where “Greg the Leg” outshines Pineiro, who had a 50 percent touchback rate three years ago with the Bears and did not kick off for the Jets last season.
Jabari Zuniga
Another member of the Jets' disappointing 2020 draft class (third round), Jabari Zuniga faces long odds of making the team this season.
The athletic defensive lineman saw limited time in eight games as a rookie and played just three games last season. He did have one major highlight, sacking Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow and forcing a fumble in a Week 7 win.
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But with Carl Lawson and Vinny Curry healthy, and the Jets drafting Jermaine Johnson and Micheal Clemons to fortify the front four, New York is extremely deep on the defensive line. Zuniga needs a monster camp to survive a likely cut.