DIRTY THIRTY
Long-tenured snapper latest veteran put on chopping block
The Jets’ quest to get younger continued Saturday when the team cut its longest-tenured player.
The Jets released long snapper Tanner Purdum, who had been on the team since 2010, as they trimmed their roster to 53. He was the only player remaining on the Jets that played in the January 2011 AFC Championship game loss to the Steelers, the team’s last playoff game.
Purdum was a reliable snapper, but he had a few hiccups in training camp this year. That led to the Jets trading for Thomas Hennessy last week from the Colts. Hennessy must have done enough this week to convince the Jets he was worth keeping.
According to the Jets website, Purdum never had a bad snap or a penalty in 112 games with the team.
Purdum, 33, is another veteran Jet to get the axe this offseason. They now have three players over the age of 30 — Josh McCown, Matt Forte and Steve McLendon.
The longest-tenured Jets now are Muhammad Wilkerson and Bilal Powell, both drafted in 2011.
Purdum was the most notable cut, which tells you there were not many surprises.
Another mild surprise was the team waving nose tackle Deon Simon. Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan selected Simon in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. Simon came on toward the end of last season and finished the year with 1.5 sacks. But Simon had a quiet summer and Mike Pennel, picked up from the Packers in the winter, won over the coaches as the big run stuffer in the middle behind starter McLendon.
Another surprising cut on the defensive line was Lawrence Thomas, who made the team last year but suffered a seasonending shoulder injury early in the season. Thomas seems to have lost out to Claude Pelon, who had a strong training camp.
Maccagnan is far from finished tinkering with his roster. Teams can claim players placed on waivers at noon Sunday. The Jets need help at tight end, wide receiver, kickoff and punt returner and outside linebacker. Two players the Giants released could pique the Jets’ interest — tight end Will Tye and wide receiver Travis Rudolph.
The biggest move of the weekend came on Friday for the Jets, when they traded defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson to the Seahawks in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick and wide receiver Jermaine Kearse.
They also chose their kicker on Friday, waiving Ross Martin in favor of Chandler Catanzaro. It is funny because when the Jets traded for Hennessy last week, that was seen as a good sign for Martin because the two went to Duke together. Instead, Hennessy made the roster and Martin did not.
The Jets also placed tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (two games) and wide receiver Jalin Marshall (four games) on the suspended list.
This is the initial roster of 53 players. Plenty of changes will occur before the Jets open the season next Sunday in Buffalo.
Here is the full list of players waived/released by the Jets on Saturday: OL Alex Balducci, OLB Frank Beltre, OL Chris Bordelon, OL Ben Braden, CB Xavier Coleman, FB Anthony Firkser, DL Patrick Gamble, WR-Frankie Hammond, LB Connor Harris, OT Javarius Leamon, WR Gabe Marks, RB Romar Morris, LS Tanner Purdum, NT Deon Simon, S Robenson Therezie, RB Jahad Thomas, DL Lawrence Thomas, S Shamarko Thomas, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, WR Lucky Whitehead (injury designation) and WR Dan Williams.