Embattled New York Jets Kicker Moved to Injured Reserve, Done For Season

The New York Jets moved veteran kicker Greg Zuerlein to injured reserve, a move that likely paves his way out the door after the season.

East Rutherford, NJ -- October 14, 2024 -- After missing two field goals run the second half, Greg Zuerlein of the Jets leaves the field at the end of the game. The Buffalo Bills came to MetLife Stadium to play the NY Jets. The Jets played their first game under new interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Greg Zuerlein won’t get another chance to kick this season. He may not get a chance to kick for the New York Jets ever again.

New York announced a flurry of moves on Tuesday, with Zuerlein’s move to injured reserve one of the more notable. He missed more than a month with an injury to his left knee. The Jets didn’t indicate if he had a setback with the knee or if he suffered a new injury.

He was activated from IR on Saturday leading up to Sunday’s 40-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He didn’t kick in the game, as punter Thomas Morstead handled kickoffs and the Jets didn’t score until late in the game and went for two both times.

But, before the injury, Zuerlein was in the worst funk of his career, something he said was brought on by mechanical issues. He missed field goals in close losses, including one against Denver in which did all the scoring in a 10-9 loss. But his late game-winning field-goal attempt set a tone for the rest of his season.

He made 60% of his field goals, the worst percentage of his career.

Because of that, it’s not clear if Zuerlein will be back in 2025, though that will be up to a new general manager and head coach.

As ESPN’s Rich Cimini pointed out, he signed a two-year, $8.4 million deal entering 2024. $4.2 million of that was guarantee and he received all of that in 2024. As there is no more guaranteed money left on the contract, he could be released with only $2.3 million in dead cap money to absorb.

New Jets leadership may simply want a fresh start at the position.

The Jets formally announced they had signed Greg Joseph to the 53-man roster. His agent, Brett Tessler, posted to social media on Monday that the move was coming. New York signed Joseph to its practice squad last week.

Joseph played earlier this season with the Commanders and the Giants and went 15-of-19 on field goals, along with 8-for-8 on extra points. He will be the fifth different kicker for the Jets this season. He first started kicking in the NFL in 2018.

In 74 career games, Joseph has made 82.1% of his field-goal attempts and 90.6% of his extra-point attempts. His career-long 61-yard field goal came with the Vikings in 2022.

New York also formally announced it had released kicker Anders Carlson, moved safety Chuck Clark to IR, signed defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis and linebacker Jamin Davis to the active roster, and signed offensive lineman David Sharpe to the practice squad.