Former NY Jets TE's redemption tour cut short by premature release

It has been a tough 2024 offseason for once-promising NY Jets free-agent signing C.J. Uzomah. The Jets released the nine-year veteran in March after a disappointing season that resulted in just eight receptions for 58 yards and ended with a season-ending knee injury after 12 games.

He bounced back by signing with the Eagles this offseason, but on Wednesday, Philadelphia cut ties with the former Auburn standout. Uzomah is once again a free agent.

I guess you could say that it has been more than just a tough offseason for Uzomah — it's been a tough couple of years. After a 2021 season in Cincinnati where he reached his career high in catches, yards, and touchdowns, it has been a steep decline ever since.

C.J. Uzomah's career went downhill after signing with the NY Jets

Some of it has been a matter of circumstance. Uzomah joined a Jets squad in 2022 that was hoping for Zach Wilson to blossom into the star QB that they drafted him to be. That did not happen.

Wilson proved to be among the worst quarterbacks, if not the worst quarterback in the league (maybe someone tied him, but it's nearly impossible to be worse). Uzomah dropped from 49 receptions to 21, and from 493 yards to 232. Things looked more hopeful the following offseason.

In 2023, the Jets' white knight came to the rescue in Aaron Rodgers, but we all know how long that lasted. After four snaps, the Jets were stuck back in Zach Wilson land, and the young QB did not prove any of the doubters wrong.

He essentially ran it back and proved once and for all that he wasn't the guy. As a result, Uzomah's production suffered even more. And once he went down with a knee injury, the struggling tight end became no better than damaged goods. The Jets cut him in the offseason.

The Eagles granted him a one-year contract in April, that lasted a total of four months and zero games. It appears that, despite receiving significant first-team snaps as recently as Tuesday, the Eagles determined that he was the fourth-best tight end on the roster.

Uzomah's future in the NFL is shaky at best right now. A 31-year-old tight end who has logged 106 games, hasn't eclipsed 25 receptions or a full season of games since 2021, who just had a devasting knee injury the previous season, and who was just cut by two teams in five months, doesn't have much value on the open market.

It will be interesting to see where Uzomah goes from here. The good news for him though, is that he can only go up in theory.

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