With the New York Jets’ 53-man roster cuts trickling in, one borderline roster player did not go through the cuts process. The Jets reportedly traded DB/returner Brandon Codrington to the Buffalo Bills for a 2026 late-round pick swap.
AFC East trade: The #Bills have traded for #Jets DB and returner Brandon Codrington, per me and @TomPelissero. It’s for a swap of late 2026 picks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2024
Visit our New York Jets News page to stay updated on the latest happenings.
Many Jets fans were pulling for Codrington to make the roster after his stellar preseason. The undrafted free agent out of North Carolina Central averaged 37.5 yards per kick return and 14.8 yards per punt return in the preseason. Most notably, he showed shiftiness in space and an ability to make something out of nothing as a returner.
Still, Codrington was caught in the Jets’ roster crunch. With the team likely carrying Irvin Charles as a special teams-only player, Codrington would have been a second. Codrington also did not show enough at cornerback in training camp and preseason to land a spot there.
Codrington may have been picked up on waivers. The Jets likely advanced their draft position slightly by trading him. That’s not a bad return for an undrafted free agent with no place on the team.
The risk of trading Codrington in the division is that the Bills now have a dangerous returner to deploy against them. It’s a bold assertion that they don’t believe he can beat them. Even if they plan to kick out of the end zone on every kick return, that still leaves punt returning, which Codrington excelled at in college and in limited preseason action. He scored three punt return touchdowns in four college seasons, averaging 12.0 yards per return.
A Jets-Bills trade is also extremely rare. Per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, it hadn’t happened since 1987.
How unusual is a Jets-Bills trade? Until today (KR Brandon Codrington), it hadn't happened since 1987, when the #Bills sent DL Don Smith to the Jets for a 1988 conditional pick. The teams actually made 7 trades in the 1960s and 1970s. h/t @ESPNStatsInfo #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) August 27, 2024
Sans Codrington, the Jets kept three other undrafted free agents in Braiden McGregor, Eric Watts, and Leonard Taylor III. Overall, that’s a highly successful return for a UDFA class.
