The New York Jets waived 23 players Saturday in order to get down to the NFL's mandatory 53-man limit. The full list included offensive linemen Ed Blanton, Marko Cavka, Charles Missant, Steve Morley, Doug Nienhuis, and Issac Snell; wide receivers Reggie Newhouse, Dante Ridgeway and Sloan Thomas; tight ends Joel Dreessen, Joe Kowalewski, and Walter Rasby; running back Stacy Tutt; defensive linemen Darrell Adams, Matt McChesney, Brennan Schmidt; linebackers Craig Bailey, Blake Costanzo and Darrell McClover; defensive backs Andre Maddox, Ray Mickens, Hank Poteat and Jamie Thompson.
"I really want to say again that I respect how hard these guys work and the commitment and the effort they put in," said Jets head coach Eric Mangini. "To the same degree, the guys that did make the team had a very good training camp. The way that they responded in terms of their effort, hard work and all the things that we were looking for was outstanding, and the way that we finished the game last night showed that."
Mangini and GM Mike Tannenbaum, though making 23 cuts on Saturday, are still in for a long weekend.
"Over the course of the next 24 hours we'll sign eight guys to the practice squad, which is one of the more difficult days for me as a head coach just because of the relationships that you build with these players and the things that they've done," Mangini said.
The Jets now look forward to their first regular season game against the Titans at Nashville next Sunday afternoon. Mangini and Tannenbaum feel confident that the decisions made Saturday will put the best team in the field, but they will continue to search for more talent.
"We will see what other teams did tonight," Mangini said. "Mike and I will meet again and look at the guys that we kept and the practice squad candidates, and other guys that we have been tracking throughout the season and just see where the possibilities are. We are going to constantly be looking to upgrade the roster as much as we can."
The most surprising player to land a spot on Mangini's roster was perhaps Wallace Wright, a first-year wide receiver from North Carolina.
"Wallace is a guy who really took the coaching and the points that we emphasized and tried to execute them on a daily basis in either practice or in games," Mangini said. "He did some really positive things on special teams, and he just kept distinguishing himself."
