The New York Jets concluded their final mandatory minicamp practice on Thursday. Before the team gets sent off for a 40+ day break, New York made several roster moves.
“We have signed G Marquis Hayes and DE Kingsley Jonathan to the active roster. Additionally, we have waived G Zack Bailey and DB Tre Swilling,” the Jets posted on X.
Jonathan is no stranger to the AFC East, or the northeast in general. The former Syracuse defensive end spent the past three seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
Jonathan entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2022. After blink-and-you'll-miss-it stints with the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans, Jonathan was a depth piece for the Bills.
Jonathan has appeared in 20 total games in his career without a start. Jonathan has been a rotational piece on defense, but also cut his teeth on special teams with the Bills over the past two years, playing 52 and 62 percent of special teams snaps in games he appeared, respectively.
“The Syracuse product went undrafted in 2022 but was the first overall pick in the 2022 CFL Global Draft, which is limited to a pool of non-Canadian and non-American players. Kingsley, who grew up in Baltimore, was born in Nigeria,” Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg shared.
Jonathan was a five-year player at Syracuse, tallying 102 tackles, 23 for loss, 15 sacks, four pass breakups and three forced fumbles in 56 games.
One of the other moves the Jets made was a one-for-one swap on the offensive line, releasing Zack Bailey for Marquis Hayes.
“Bailey signed a reserve/future contract with the Green & White in January after he was elevated for the Jets’ Week 18 game against the Dolphins. He originally signed with the Buccaneers out of South Carolina as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and spent one-and-a-half seasons with the Bucs before practice-squad stints with the Vikings (2020-21), the Colts (2021), the Commanders (2021-22) and the Chargers (2022-23),” Greenberg wrote.