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The New York Jets have trimmed the herd heading into the thick of the 2022 offseason.
Gang Green announced on their official social media portals that they have released kicker Matt Ammendola.
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Trimming the Fat on the Roster
The 25-year-old placekicker originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent in the 2020 NFL draft class.
After initially signing on with the Carolina Panthers, he was dumped a few months later. Just as training camp was getting underway in 2021, Ammendola got a second chance when he joined the Jets roster.
He won the starting job, rising from humble beginnings, and went viral in the season opener versus the Carolina Panthers.
Jets punter Braden Mann was injured during the game and most NFL teams don’t have the luxury of carrying an extra kicker or punter, so when one of them goes down, the other is forced to perform double-duty.
Not only did Ammendola deliver, but he excelled.
The Oklahoma State product launched six punts for over 291 yards with a fantastic average of 48.5 yards per punt. Although the most impressive boot of the day traveled an insane 65 yards.
The 5-foot-9, 195 pounder ended up playing in 11 games last season. He went 13-for-19 from the field and was 14-of-15 on extra points.
Unfortunately, the sizzle from Week 1 didn’t last as the talented placekicker couldn’t find consistency and was eventually released before ultimately being brought back on the practice squad.
As Brian Costello of the New York Post put it on Twitter, he became the “odd man out.”
And Then There Were Two
With Ammendola being removed from the equation, the Jets kicking competition is now a two-man race.
Both Greg Zuerlein and Eddy Pineiro were given contracts by Gang Green over the last week.
Legatron had spent the last two years with the Dallas Cowboys. While technically he only missed one out of 33 possible contests, he powered through some offseason back surgery last year that threw his game off.
The Jets’ hope is that he is fully healed from all that and can return to his 2017 All-Pro form.
Although the job won’t be served to him on a silver platter because the green and white also brought back Pineiro this offseason.
The 26-year-old youngster showed a lot of chutzpah last year and the staff seems to like him, but not enough to just give him the job without a fight.
Now we have a good ole fashioned kicking competition and they’ll let the best man win.
They say competition breeds success and whoever wins this battle will have to outduel the other. Hopefully, the art of competition in a lose-and-go-home scenario gets the best out of both men throughout training camp and the preseason.
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