Defensive end Michael Fletcher was signed in a corresponding move. Zuerlein has kicked for the Jets since 2022. He suffered a knee injury last year and briefly returned before being placed back on injured reserve. Zuerlein appeared in eight games and went a dreadful 9-of-15 on his field goal tries. The 60 percent hit rate was by far the worst of his career. Now 37 years old, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Legatron hang up the cleats for good after being released. If he wants to keep kicking, another team will be more than willing to at least give him a camp battle to win.

Greg Joseph will be kicking for the Jets this week against the Dolphins. Zuerlein was activated off injured reserve last week and was technically active, but did not participate in the game as all as Thomas Morstead handled kickoffs and the Jets did not attempt an extra point after falling behind 40-0.

Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve back in November after suffering a knee injury in Week 8 against the Patriots. Zuerlein struggled before landing on IR, converting on just 9-of-15 field goals while making 13-of-14 extra points; now he’ll hope to end the season on a strong note over the final two weeks. Now 37, Zuerlein is on the back nine of his pro career, but still showed plenty of long-distance abilities as recently as 2023 when he converted on 5-of-6 field goals from 50-plus yards.

A knee injury may have been to blame for Zuerlein’s recent struggles, as the veteran kicker has converted on just three of his last seven field goal attempts. Now on injured reserve, Zuerlein will miss at least the next four games while recovering from his injury and won’t be eligible to come off IR until Week 14 when the Jets visit the Dolphins. The Jets signed kickers Riley Patterson and Spencer Shrader to their practice squad earlier this week, with the expectation that one of them will kick in place for Zuerlein in Thursday night’s game against the Texans.