Jets trade tight end Chris Herndon to Vikings for fourth-round pick
New York Jets tight end Chris Herndon at training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. Credit: Noah K. Murray
The Jets made a surprising move on roster cutdown day. They moved on from Chris Herndon.
The talented tight end wasn’t released. The Jets traded Herndon to the Minnesota Vikings. General manager Joe Douglas got a 2022 fourth-round pick from Minnesota for Herndon and a sixth-round choice.
The Jets got a good return for Herndon since the Vikings were in need of a tight end. Starter Irv Smith suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for the start of the season.
Herndon, a fourth-round pick in 2018, had a promising rookie season, catching 39 passes for 502 yards and four touchdowns. But he has struggled to make an impact since then.
He only played in one game in 2019 due to suspension and injuries. Last year, Herndon caught 31 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns, but fumbles and dropped passes littered his season.
The departure of the 25-year-old Herndon also was also surprising because he had been getting some reps with the first team and is a good blocker. Douglas may try to make another move for a tight end since the Jets only have two on their initial 53-man roster.
The Jets waived Ryan Griffin, Daniel Brown and Kenny Yeboah on Tuesday. That left Tyler Kroft and Trevon Wesco as their only tight ends. Wesco has been playing more of a halfback role.
As of now, the Jets have just two quarterbacks: Zach Wilson with Mike White as his backup. Neither has taken a regular-season NFL snap so the Jets could add a veteran. They released last year’s fourth-round pick James Morgan and veteran Josh Johnson on Tuesday.
Other offensive players that the Jets cut were running back Josh Adams, wide receivers Vyncint Smith and D.J. Montgomery and offensive linemen Grant Hermanns, Jimmy Murray, David Moore and Isaiah Williams.
The defensive players the Jets cut were defensive linemen Ronnie Blair, Rashed Hamilcar, Tanzel Smart and Jeremiah Valoago, linebackers Noah Dawkins, Camilo Eifler and Del’Shawn Phillips, cornerback Elijah Campbell and safeties J.T. Hassell and Sharrod Neasman.
Defensive lineman Kyle Phillips was placed on the reserve/PUP list.
The Jets will try to bring back some of the players they’ve cut on their 16-man practice squad or regular roster after moving injured players to IR. They also are No. 2 in the waiver claim order so they could be active.
Now that Herndon is gone, only two players remain from former GM Mike Maccagnan’s 2018 draft class: defensive linemen Nathan Shepherd and Foley Fatukasi.
