Jets Cut 24-Year-Old QB Before Deadline, Leaves Team Thin

FLORHAM PARK, NEW JERSEY - JULY 29: Brady Cook #4 of the New York Jets throw during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on July 29, 2026 in Florham Park, New Jersey. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) Getty

The New York Jets have trimmed their roster to an initial 53 players.

Someone who didn’t make the cut was second-year quarterback Brady Cook.

Cook is subject to waivers. If he is claimed, Cook will immediately join someone’s 53-man roster. However, if he goes unclaimed, Cook will then have an opportunity to join someone’s practice squad.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini mentioned Cook returning to the Jets’ practice squad as a possibility.

Cook, 24, will turn 25 during the 2026 season. He originally joined the team last April as an undrafted free agent. Cook started the year on the practice squad and ended the season as the starting quarterback. What a roller coaster.

During his rookie season, Cook appeared in five games and made four starts. With those opportunities, Cook completed 57.5% of his passes, threw for 739 passing yards, and had two touchdowns to seven interceptions.

This move leaves the Jets with only two quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster: Geno Smith and rookie Cade Klubnik .

This Is an Initial 53 Man Roster, Not the Final 53 Man Roster

It is important to note what just transpired on Sunday, August 30. The 32 teams in the NFL had to trim their rosters to an initial 53, not a final 53.

The waiver wire system clears on Monday, August 31. If a team puts a waiver claim in on a player who was waived and it is successful, that team must immediately create a roster spot for that player. So in other words, someone might think they made the roster on Sunday and then quickly find out that they lost the job on Monday.

The NFL is a cold-blooded business.

So just because the Jets appear to only have two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster right now doesn’t necessarily mean there will be only two when Week 1 arrives.

One name to keep an eye out for is Will Levis . He was waived by the Tennessee Titans , and the Jets have the No. 2 overall waiver wire priority. NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY encouraged the team to add him to the roster.

Other Highlights From the Initial 53-Man Roster

The Jets chose to keep Braiden McGregor over Nate Lynn . That was a puzzling decision. Initially, I suspected that the Jets would keep four pass rushers:

David Bailey

Will McDonald

Joseph Ossai

Kingsley Enagbare

If they were going to keep a fifth, I assumed Lynn had the best shot. Apparently not.

A pleasant surprise and a great story: Kohl Levao made the initial 53-man roster on the offensive line. When Levao first joined the team in 2024 from the UFL, he joined me on my show “Boy Green Daily” to talk about his incredible journey as an undrafted free agent carving out his own path to the pros.

Now, for the first time in his NFL career, he has made the initial 53-man roster. It is still very TBD if he remains on the squad following waivers, but this is still a great moment that he and his family should cherish.

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