Which released players could the Jets put in a waiver claim for?

Despite all the attention on who the Jets have been releasing over the last few days, the Jets' top brass will have been keeping tabs on who has been released by other teams around the league. Since they are sixth in waiver priority, the Jets have a good chance of landing any players they put in a claim for ahead of the deadline on Sunday at midday.

The Jets will be looking for anyone who can be an immediate upgrade and perhaps for some players who have untapped potential. Let's examine their main needs and some candidates to claim or sign at each of these positions.

Edge Rusher

The team's search for a productive pass rusher wasn't answered during the offseason and the Jets are considered so weak in this area that there are several apparent upgrades available. Also, most of the teams ahead of them in waiver priority probably aren't in the market for one.
If the Jets want to go down the veteran route, John Simon from Indianapolis is a player who -- like his former teammate Henry Anderson --wasn't an ideal fit for the Colts' new system and could fit better with the Jets. Alternatively, Hau'oli Kikaha has been productive in a situational rusher role with the Saints over the past few years.

However, there are a lot of promising youngsters who were victims of a numbers game. Nate Orchard and Daeshon Hall were recent top-100 picks and Avery Moss had 17.5 sacks in his senior year at Youngstown State two years ago.

Punt Returner

Many of the most impressive punt returners in preseason didn't get released. Two exceptions were Kalif Raymond and Jojo Natson, each of whom has already struggled in an earlier spell with the Jets so it seems improbable they'd get another look.

Veteran Brandon Tate got cut by the Saints, but doesn't profile to be much different to the incumbent return man Andre Roberts. Kaelin Clay showed playmaking ability on his backbreaking touchdown against the Jets last year, but his numbers were otherwise underwhelming.
For a youngster with potential, perhaps rookie Quadree Henderson could be worth a shot. He was a dynamic return man in college and began the preseason as the Steelers' number one return man, but just didn't get any opportunities as he had just three fair catches and one kick-off return. Henderson adds value as a slot receiver or special package utility player.

Kicker

Jason Myers is on the initial 53 but the Jets might not yet be sold on him as the answer, despite his 58-yard field goal on Thursday night.
In the kicker market, the biggest names released were Dan Bailey and Roberto Aguayo. Aguayo, a former second round pick, has now been dumped by four teams, so it seems unlikely the Jets would take a regular season flyer on his upside, but Bailey is the second most accurate kicker of all-time and his release was a cost-cutting move.

Alternatively, undrafted rookie Matt McCrane could be a candidate after having been released by the Cardinals. He made two impressive long field goals in preseason and Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News identified him as someone to keep an eye on.

Fullback

As with Myers, Lawrence Thomas made the initial 53, but the Jets might be seeking to upgrade from him if they can. Good candidates include Aaron Ripkowski and Jay Prosch, each of whom are more reliable lead blockers than Thomas has been. Prosch was the fifth highest-paid fullback in the league so his release may have been another cost-saving move.

Offensive Line

Jets fans lack confidence in the team's offensive line depth but, realistically, the best you can usually hope to find at this stage of the offseason is a raw player with future potential or a veteran who probably doesn't offer any kind of immediate upgrade.

Cyrus Kouandjio, who has started games at left tackle in the NFL, was with Buffalo when Rick Dennison took over as the offensive coordinator last year. However, he was released after the first week of OTA's and ironically ended up in Denver with Dennison's previous team.

While their paths barely overlapped, Kouandjio at least has some experience of learning Dennison's system, which might make it easier to assimilate him into the offense. Reports out of Denver suggest that Kouandjio, who has been injury prone, looked good in preseason.
For interior depth, Xavier Su'a-Filo is a consideration because he was a player Mike Maccagnan was involved in drafting. Su'a-Filo is also the sort of player Mike Maccagnan often targets because although he graded out poorly over the first few years of his career, he played some of his most consistent football towards the end of last year.

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