The longest-tenured player on the New York Jets is a man whose name often does not get mentioned for an entire television broadcast: long snapper Thomas Hennessy.

On August 28, 2017, the Jets traded safety Ronald Martin to the Indianapolis Colts for Hennessy, an undrafted rookie at the time. Hennessy had impressed in two preseason games for the Colts, and the Jets were looking for an upgrade over Tanner Purdum, who had held the team’s long snapper role since 2010. After trading for Hennessy, the Jets released Purdum.

Since then, the Duke product has never looked back. Hennessy has played in all 149 games for the Jets over the past nine seasons (2017-25). He is one of just 10 NFL players who has played in every regular season game since 2017.

While Hennessy has never earned Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors, he has consistently been one of the game’s best long snappers. If he played for a better team, Hennessy likely would have racked up plenty of accolades by now.

As a snapper, he has rarely made costly mistakes when teeing up field goals or punts. In punt coverage, Hennessy has been much more involved than your typical long snapper. He ranks second at the position with 29 tackles since 2017, and in the meantime, he’s only been credited with seven missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus.

Based on PFF’s grading system, Hennessy has earned a special teams grade of 70.0 or better in seven of the past eight seasons. This past season, his 70.5 special teams grade ranked ninth-best among long snappers.

Despite Hennessy’s sustained success, the Jets have brought in some competition for the veteran.

Jets to push Hennessy with athletic freak

Following the 2026 NFL draft, the Jets signed BYU long snapper Garrison Grimes.

The Utah native may be the most athletic long snapper prospect in history. He earned a Relative Athletic Score of 10.00, the best ever recorded at the position, strengthened by his 4.81 forty time, 32.5-inch vertical, and 115-inch broad jump.

Grimes was the primary long snapper at Baylor for three seasons before transferring to BYU in 2025. He did not make any tackles for the Cougars, but he was a reliable long snapper, finishing the season with a 67.4 special teams grade from PFF.

Could Grimes give Hennessy a run for his money?

It seems odd that the Jets would consider using a 90-man roster spot on a competitor for Hennessy, given how durable and consistent he has been for nearly a decade. Not to mention, at 31 years old, he should have plenty of gas left in the tank. The best long snappers often play deep into their 30s.

It’s also not as if there is much for New York to gain from a salary cap perspective. Although Hennessy’s contract still holds the all-time record for guaranteed money among long snappers ($3.165 million), his salary remains a measly $1.492 million per year. His cap hit in 2026 will be $1.475 million, barely above the vet minimum for a player with at least seven seasons of experience ($1.3 million).

Hennessy isn’t in a contract year, either. The Jets still have him locked up for the 2027 season on a $1.52 million cap hit.

Even if the Jets’ goal is to save as much cap space as possible on an extremely low-value position, there isn’t much appeal to that concept, either.

If the Jets release Hennessy, they will save $1.3 million in cap space, but they will still eat $350,000 in dead money. Once you add $350,000 to the minimum salary of $885,000 that Grimes would earn as an undrafted rookie, the Jets would be committing $1.235 million to the long snapper position, a microscopic $240,000 in cap savings compared to Hennessy’s current cap hit of $1.475 million.

Is $240,000 worth it to risk a bad snap on a game-winning field goal attempt?

The best praise you can give Hennessy is that fans often forget he exists. The Jets have enjoyed 149 straight games of their long snapper staying out of the limelight.

Why risk that an unproven youngster like Grimes cannot replicate that consistency when the reward is less than a quarter of a million dollars in cap space?

It seems unlikely that Grimes will give Hennessy a legitimate push for his job. Most likely, the Jets see him as a player who could be developed into trade bait. If he shines in training camp and the preseason, the Jets could trade him in the late summer for a small return, similar to how the Colts netted a backup safety from the Jets for Hennessy.

It is also worth noting that Grimes played at BYU with kicker Will Ferrin, who also signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent. Perhaps the Jets see value in helping Ferrin acclimate to the NFL by giving him a familiar long snapper to work with in training camp?

Ultimately, don’t expect the Jets’ longest-tenured player to be headed out the door anytime soon, despite New York bringing in the most athletic long snapper prospect in NFL history.