Allen Lazard, New York Jets
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New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard reacting in the middle of an OTA practice.
The New York Jets could be looking to shake up their wide receiving corps.
NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY revealed on “Jets Final Drive” that he thinks there is a chance that veteran wide receiver Allen Lazard gets “cut in the coming days.”
Well 🫡@Connor_J_Hughes told @ZackBlatt that he thinks there is a chance that the #Jets ‘cut’ Allen Lazard ‘in the coming days… 👀
🎥 Jets Final Drive @SNYtv #JetUp
LINK: https://t.co/VfXHWyvU4v pic.twitter.com/iF9wGoHyz8
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) September 10, 2025
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Lazard was surprisingly a healthy scratch ahead of the Week 1 matchup versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Head coach Aaron Glenn explained the benching on Monday, September 8.
“Lazard missed two weeks of training camp. So we wanted to make sure that he was up to speed on everything that we were doing. So we will see how that goes this week,” Glenn said.
NFL Insider Provides a Simpler Explanation for Lazard Benching
“People who were like ‘Oh why was he inactive, why was he inactive?’ He is WR4, and he doesn’t play special teams. So that was why,” Hughes bluntly responded on “Jets Final Drive.”
Across his two years with the Jets, Lazard has played a grand total of one snap on special teams, per Pro Football Reference.
He hasn’t played more than four special teams snaps in four years and has registered 203 career special teams snaps in his seven-plus years in the NFL.
Could the Jets Trade Lazard Instead of Cutting Him?
While the former Iowa State product hasn’t been exceptional with the Jets, he did show enough with the Green Bay Packers to earn a $44 million contract.
Lazard has appeared in 83 games and has made 62 starts. With those opportunities, he has caught 229 receptions for 3,077 receiving yards and has scored 27 touchdowns.
“Who is going to give up anything for Allen Lazard? If Darren Mougey can get a six-pack of soda or an adult beverage for Allen Lazard, I think you guys should build a statue for him out front. Now this is actually a bad example because Blake Cashman turned into a really good player, but that is like when Joe Douglas traded Blake Cashman, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, how did they get that for him?’ Allen Lazard is awful,” Hughes said.
Lazard Took a Massive Pay Cut to Stick Around This Offseason
Lazard, 29, took an $8.5 million pay cut to stay on the Jets roster this offseason. If he had refused to alter his contract, the team would have been forced to release him.
While that increased his chances of staying on the roster, it also increased his chances of potentially being traded in the future.
A one-year $2.5 million contract with $1.75 million guaranteed is a lot easier to move. If the Jets are unable to find a trade partner, releasing Lazard would allow him to join any other NFL team without restriction.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk predicted that Lazard would inevitably end up on the Steelers via trade ahead of training camp. That never transpired.
One of the reasons the Jets didn’t do that is because of the potential advantage that would have provided to Pittsburgh. Lazard has been around the team this offseason, and if sent to the Steelers, could have spilled trade secrets to give them an advantage heading into the season opener.
Now that bullet point is no longer relevant with the team heading into Week 2.