The New York Jets came up short in their bid for a former first-round draft choice.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Gang Green was one of eight NFL teams that put in a waiver claim for defensive lineman Jerry Tillery.
Eight teams – Las Vegas, Detroit, Carolina, Indianapolis, San Francisco, New York Jets, New York Giants, and Kansas City – put in waiver claims for former Chargers’ first-round pick Jerry Tillery, who was assigned to the Raiders.
The Los Angeles Chargers surprisingly announced his release on Thursday, November 10.
Jets Are in New Territory in 2022 With Jerry Tillery News
The Las Vegas Raiders were awarded Tillery off of waivers.
The waiver wire system is decided by the reverse order of the current standings. In other words the worse your record is the higher your waiver wire priority.
Now that normally hasn’t been a problem with the Jets because they have had only one winning season in the last 11 years. That means more often than not they’ve had a favorable position in the waiver wire priority to acquire whoever has become available.
Although as Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic so eloquently put on Twitter, “the Jets are now too good to get priority on the waiver wire.”
A new first-world problem for the Jets in 2022.
Tillery originally entered the NFL as the No. 28 overall pick in the first round during the 2019 NFL draft.
Jerry Tillery Is out as a Potential Sheldon Rankins Replacement
On the surface the Jets’ constant pursuit of defensive linemen throughout the season is surprising.
However, when you dive a bit deeper this specific targeting made a ton of sense.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced during his Monday, November 14 press conference that veteran defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins will be out this week for the New England Patriots matchup.
The former Louisville product reportedly suffered a “dislocated elbow” according to ESPN Insider Jeremy Fowler. Gang Green didn’t confirm that injury specifically but they did say he suffered an elbow injury during the win versus the Buffalo Bills.
The expectation is he will miss anywhere between four and six weeks. Gang Green is holding out hope that Rankins can return earlier than that. There is still a chance he can be placed on injured reserve which would force him to miss a minimum of four games.
Tillery would have been a nice fit, especially considering his size at 6-foot-6 and weighing 295 pounds. Now the Jets will have to either promote from within or seek an alternative option on the free-agent market.
Rankins was in the midst of a career season and was really opening up things for his teammates on the defensive line.
There were several analysts that highlighted the lack of depth on the interior of the Jets’ defensive line before the season. With this Rankins hit, the depth is even more questionable heading into the second half of the 2022 season.
Gang Green still has Solomon Thomas and Nathan Shepherd on the roster. Additionally, they have Jonathan Marshall and Tanzel Smart on the expanded practice squad.
The Jets could either choose to stick with what they have or seriously explore the free-agent market. One other name they kicked the tires on earlier this season was veteran Linval Joseph.
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Jets Lose Bid for Highly Sought After Former First Round Pick