Cohen informed the Jets on Thursday that he's retiring from football, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. The 29-year-old last played in a game Week 3 of 2020, when he suffered an ACL tear that cost him the rest of that season and all of the next one. He suffered an Achilles' tear in spring of 2022 and spent most of 2023 with Carolina's practice squad, but reports out of Jets training camp this summer suggested Cohen had regained some of his old explosiveness and was a viable candidate for return work. Xavier Gipson remains the most likely Jet to make an impact there, and Cohen may have sensed that he was unlikely to earn a roster spot as a backup return specialist without much value on offense. Whatever the case, he's retiring after a week of training camp practices.
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Cohen informed the Jets on Thursday that he's retiring from football, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. The 29-year-old last played in a game Week 3 of 2020, when he suffered an ACL tear that cost him the rest of that season and all of the next one. He suffered an Achilles' tear in spring of 2022 and spent most of 2023 with Carolina's practice squad, but reports out of Jets training camp this summer suggested Cohen had regained some of his old explosiveness and was a viable candidate for return work. Xavier Gipson remains the most likely Jet to make an impact there, and Cohen may have sensed that he was unlikely to earn a roster spot as a backup return specialist without much value on offense. Whatever the case, he's retiring after a week of training camp practices.
Cohen agreed to a one-year contract with the Jets on Wednesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Cohen will turn 29 years old in July and hasn't played in an NFL game since Week 3 of the 2020 season, when he suffered an ACL tear that derailed a promising career. He missed all of 2021 while rehabbing from the knee injury and all of 2022 after suffering a torn Achilles' tendon during the spring. Cohen then landed with the Panthers in 2023 and spent most of the season on their practice squad, but he struggled with a hamstring injury, never got a promotion and ultimately was released in early May. He's unlikely to make noise in a backfield that has Breece Hall and two incoming draft picks, but Cohen should get a look on kick and punt returns this offseason.
The Panthers released Cohen on Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. The 2017 fourth-round pick was an effective passing-down back and punt returner for three full seasons before suffering an ACL tear Week 3 of 2020. He hasn't played in a game since, with an Achilles' tear in May 2022 further setting him back. Cohen spent most of last season on Carolina's practice squad, where he dealt with a hamstring injury for nearly two months and never earned a promotion to the roster. He'll turn 29 this summer and still has plenty of time to find another team before training camp if he wants to continue pursuing an NFL career.