Kene Nwangwu, Jets
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New York Jets return specialist Kene Nwangwu trying to make a play during an NFL game against the New York Giants.
The New York Jets retained a key piece to the special teams puzzle.
ESPN NFL Insider Jeremy Fowler revealed that the Jets have agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with running back and return specialist Kene Nwangwu. The deal includes $1 million guaranteed and has a maximum value of $3 million.
Jeremy Fowler
Return ace Kene Nwangwu is returning to the Jets on a one-year, $2M deal with $1M fully guaranteed and max value of $3M, per source.
Nwangwu has five kick-return touchdowns since entering the league in 2022.
The Jets Are Keeping One of the Most Dynamic Return Men in the League
Nwangwu, 28, is listed at 6-foot-1 and weighs 210 pounds.
The former Iowa State product first joined the Jets in 2024. He entered the league as the No. 119 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft.
He spent the first three years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings. In 2022, he was named a second-team All-Pro return man.
Nwangwu had a brief cup of coffee with the New Orleans Saints in late August of 2024, but he failed a physical and was let go back into the free agent waters.
Across his five years in the NFL, he has appeared in 51 games and has made one start. He is listed as a running back, but he has barely played at that position in the NFL. Nwangwu has 40 career carries for 137 rushing yards. He has also contributed six receptions for 30 receiving yards.
Where Nwangwu has really buttered his bread is in the return game.
He has returned 89 kickoffs for 2,640 return yards and scored five touchdowns.
Gang Green Stumbled Into This Dynamic Return Duo
The Jets’ special teams unit is an island of misfit toys.
Placekicker Nick Folk was signed days into training camp in late July last year. ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed that punter Austin McNamara “had 13 workouts for 12 different teams” before he finally landed an NFL contract with the Jets.
Nwangwu has bounced around the league lately before finding the Jets.
New York’s top punt returner, Isaiah Williams, entered the league as an undrafted free agent. He had a brief stint with the Detroit Lions and then was sitting idle on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad before joining the Jets last year in September.
Williams had blunders early in the season with the Jets that forced the team to release him. After sitting in a football timeout unemployed for a few days, the Jets brought him back, and Williams never looked back.
Last season, he had 28 punt returns for 396 return yards and scored two touchdowns. He also contributed 28 kick returns for 837 kick return yards.
Despite their varying entry points into the NFL, this group of misfits delivered one of the greatest special teams seasons in league history.
If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
With Nwangwu back in the fold, the Jets were able to keep the majority of their core special teams unit together.
The only significant piece that got away was Folk, who signed a two-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.
It’ll be up to second-year special teams coordinator Chris Banjo to find a new solution at kicker. Last year, he found Folk last second and had a hell of an overall debut as a coordinator. If anyone can figure out this equation, it would be Banjo.