4 Jets draft picks who will undoubtedly be cut after the preseason

The New York Jets will close out their preseason later today with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the real drama won’t unfold until after the final whistle.

NFL teams are just days away from trimming rosters down to 53 players, and tough decisions await every front office across the league, including general manager Darren Mougey and the Jets.

For a handful of recent draft picks, however, the writing is already on the wall. Their futures with the Jets are all but sealed, with tonight’s game serving as little more than a final audition for other teams.

As roster cuts loom, it’s clear that several former draft picks won’t survive the weekend. Let's take a look at four ex-Jets draft picks who will almost certainly be waived in the coming days.

The Jets are expected to cut these former draft picks

1. WR Malachi Corley

It wasn't long ago that the old Jets regime of Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh identified Malachi Corley as their top draft target and the No. 4 wide receiver in the 2024 draft class, ahead of the likes of Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey, and others.

A little over a year later, the 65th overall pick in last year's draft is clinging onto whatever's left of his failing NFL career and is essentially guaranteed to be released as part of final roster cuts.

Corley has spent the summer pretty much exclusively working with the third-team offense and is realistically the 9th or 10th wide receiver on the Jets' depth chart. At this stage, there's likely very little he could do tonight to convince the Jets to keep him around.

He's still young and possesses enough upside that another team might be willing to take a chance on him, but his Jets career appears to be all but over after one disastrous season.

2. OT Carter Warren

The Jets have tried and failed to develop a number of mid-round offensive linemen over the years, and Carter Warren seems destined to join that ever-growing list. He's likely played his final game as a member of the Jets.

A fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Warren has started six games over the last two seasons due to various injuries, but is clearly low on the pecking order entering the final preseason game.

Warren has been working with the third-team offense, with the likes of Chukwuma Okorafor and Max Mitchell seemingly penciled in as the primary backup tackles. Barring injury, Warren will not make the 53-man roster.

3. LB Zaire Barnes

Zaire Barnes entered the summer with a golden opportunity to compete for the LB3 job in Aaron Glenn's defense, but the 2023 sixth-round pick has failed to impress and is likely playing out his final days in New York.

Barnes appeared in four games as a rookie before missing the entire 2024 season due to injury. Jamin Davis seems like the frontrunner to start alongside Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood, while Marcelino McCrary-Ball and rookie Francisco Mauigoa are also expected to make the final roster.

Unless one of those guys suffers an injury in tonight's preseason finale, it's hard to see any scenario in which Barnes makes the team. He's likely behind undrafted rookie linebacker/special-teamer Ja'Markis Weston at this stage as well.

4. TE Zack Kuntz

Zack Kuntz is quite literally the most athletic tight end in NFL history. Kuntz's perfect 10.0 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) ranked first among over 1,100 tight ends to enter the NFL since 1987 when he was drafted by the Jets in the seventh round two years ago.

Unfortunately, that athleticism hasn't translated into success at the next level. Kuntz has played just two games and three total offensive snaps over his first two NFL seasons, spending essentially the entirety of the 2024 campaign on the Jets' practice squad.

He could be headed for another practice squad stint if the new Jets coaching staff believes there's still some untapped potential with him, but Kuntz will not be a part of the team's initial 53-man roster.