Jets waste no time making a flurry of signings after end of 2025 season

The New York Jets announced a handful of futures signings on Monday, officially beginning what figures to be a busy offseason for head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey as they look to reshape the roster following a 3–14 campaign

The list was notably shorter than what fans might be used to seeing this time of year. While many teams sign a dozen or more players to futures contracts, the Jets added just five.

That’s largely because the Jets had already elevated a number of practice squad players to the active roster late in the season after placing several veterans on injured reserve.

Previous practice squad players such as Quentin Skinner and Kohl Levao, among others, would have been prime candidates for futures deals but were already on the 53-man roster by the final week of the season.

For context, a futures contract is essentially a reserve deal that allows teams to retain players for the upcoming offseason and training camp, even though the regular season has ended.

These contracts give players a chance to compete for a roster spot in the spring and summer while allowing teams to maintain continuity at the back end of the roster. Below is a closer look at the players the Jets signed to futures deals and what each could bring to the table in 2026.

Jets' futures signings in 2026

DE Paschal Ekeji

The Jets signed defensive end Paschal Ekeji to their practice squad as their designated NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) Program representative after placing the German-born Leander Wiegand on the practice squad IR in November.

Considering the Jets signed Ekeji, not Wiegand, to a futures deal, it seems as though the Jets plan to roll with the Lesotho native as their IPP player for 2026. A former rugby star in South Africa, Ekeji participated in the first NFL Africa Camp back in 2022.

At 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, Ekeji might be given an opportunity to showcase his abilities in the team's offseason program and, if all goes well, in the preseason. He's a fun player to keep an eye on.

OL Liam Fornadel

The Jets brought in Liam Fornadel late in July after he spent the spring playing for the DC Defenders. A New Jersey native, Fornadel has bounced around multiple leagues, with stops in the CFL, XFL, and UFL, and also spent most of the 2024 season on the New England Patriots’ practice squad.

He ultimately spent the entire 2025 season on the Jets’ practice squad, but made a strong impression during the summer. Fornadel graded out as the Jets’ highest-rated offensive lineman in the preseason according to Pro Football Focus, impressing as the team’s third-string center.

Bringing him back on a futures deal gives him another opportunity to compete for a roster spot in 2026 after showing enough to earn a longer look.

DE Ochaun Mathis

The Jets signed Ochaun Mathis to their practice squad in December following a few injuries at defensive end. A sixth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in the 2023 NFL Draft, Mathis has appeared in 14 games over the last three seasons.

He saw action in eight games as a rookie with the Rams before being waived in August 2024. From there, he landed on the Patriots’ practice squad and went on to appear in five games for New England before being released.

Mathis then joined the Eagles’ practice squad and made one appearance for Philadelphia later that season. The TCU and Nebraska product continued to bounce around the league in 2025, spending time on the practice squads of both the Titans and Browns, though he did not appear in any games.

WR Jamaal Pritchett

Probably the most recognizable name on this list for Jets fans, Jamaal Pritchett signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of South Alabama after the draft and put together an impressive summer.

Pritchett pushed for a roster spot in camp as the team’s top punt returner but ultimately lost out to incumbent Xavier Gipson, who was released just one week into the season. The Jets clearly like Pritchett enough to bring him back, but it was telling how many different return specialists the team cycled through ahead of him.

Now, with Isaiah Williams and Kene Nwangwu in the mix, it’s difficult to see a clear path to the 53-man roster for Pritchett. He wasn’t even the team’s backup punt returner on the practice squad last season, as that role went to veteran Trenton Irwin. Nonetheless, Pritchett is still on the roster for now.

CB Samuel Womack

Samuel Womack only played one game for the Jets this season, but he started it. Womack was elevated from the practice squad for Week 18, starting at cornerback in a Jets secondary that hardly resembled a product you would ever see on an NFL field.

Still, in Womack's defense, he played reasonably well, finishing as PFF's second-highest-graded Jets defensive player of the week. Womack previously appeared in five games, making one start, for the Tennessee Titans earlier this year.

A fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 NFL Draft, Womack might be given a chance to compete for a depth spot in the Jets' cornerback room this upcoming summer if he sticks around long enough.