NY Jets work out five players including Hakeem Butler and Alec Ogletree
By Justin Fried
The NY Jets brought in five players for workouts on Monday including Hakeem Butler.
The NY Jets continue to move around some pieces on their roster in the days following cut day. And with a couple of open spots in the organization, the team brought in five players for workouts on Monday.
And at least one of them is sure to get some fans excited.
Among the players who worked out with the Jets, the two most notable were veteran linebacker Alec Ogletree and recently-released wide receiver Hakeem Butler.
The Jets also brought in veteran safety Walt Aikens, former Baltimore Ravens wideout Jaleel Scott, and quarterback Alex McGough.
Following Monday’s roster moves that saw four players re-signed and five placed on injured reserve, the Jets now have one open spot on the active roster. Combine that with the open spot they have on their practice squad and the Jets can theoretically add two players.
Evidently, they’re looking to add an outside player or two as opposed to the others on the roster who all were with the team in training camp.
Ogletree is the most notable player on the list as the veteran linebacker spent the last two years starting with the New York Giants after five years with the Rams.
The 28-year-old has started all 93 games in his career and would be valuable depth to a Jets’ team that has just three healthy inside linebackers on the active roster. Expect a move to be made at that position before Week 1 and Ogletree seems like an obvious addition.
The real intrigue among Jets fans will come with Butler who many were pounding the table for following his release from the Arizona Cardinals this past Friday.
At 6-foot-5 and nearly 230 pounds, Butler is a physical specimen who ran an unheard of 4.48 40-yard dash at the 2019 NFL Combine. Few players can match up with him physically, but a broken hand wiped out his entire rookie season and he hasn’t developed as expected.
Still, his college tape is impressive and Butler would be a worthwhile addition as a developmental receiver, perhaps to be stashed on the practice squad for the time being.
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The NY Jets also brought in three other players for tryouts.
Elsewhere, Aikens spent more than half a decade with the Miami Dolphins serving as a valuable special-teamer. The last time the Jets signed a former standout Dolphins special-teamer they landed Neville Hewitt.
Perhaps Aikens can follow in his former teammate’s footsteps.
Scott, much like Butler, is a former fourth-round pick who has dealt with injury troubles. With just one career catch to his name, he’s looking to sign on with another team after getting cut by the Baltimore Ravens this weekend.
McGough’s workout is certainly the most interesting with five quarterbacks already signed on the roster. A seventh-round pick in 2017, McGough has bounced around a few teams’ practice squads but never found a home on an active roster.
Given the Jets’ crowded quarterback situation, it would certainly come as a surprise if they signed McGough.
The two to keep an eye on here are Butler and Ogletree, especially the latter given the glaring hole at linebacker.
But for Jets fans pleading for a Hakeem Butler signing, there is still some hope.