FRIDAY, 3:12pm: The Jets have officially signed Ross, the team announced today in a press release.
WEDNESDAY, 6:27pm: In need of return help following Jeremy Kerley‘s departure to Detroit, the Jets plan to sign Jeremy Ross as long as the journeyman specialist passes a physical, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
The Raiders did not tender Ross as a restricted free agent. Should the 28-year-old return man pass a physical and sign with the Jets, they will be his sixth employer since coming into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2011. Initially breaking into the NFL with the Colts, Ross played with the Packers in 2012-13 before spending the latter portion of 2013 with the Lions and staying in Detroit in ’14.
Ross spent last season with the Ravens and Raiders after beginning the campaign on Baltimore’s practice squad. He has 39 career receptions for 469 yards to his credit but has mostly been used as a return man. Primarily identified as a return contributor, Ross boasts an 11.2-yard average on career punt returns and has compiled a 25.1-yards-per-kickoff-return figure.
Ross averaged 24.7 yards per return last season with Oakland and Baltimore on 19 returns and 11.2 yards per punt return on 24. The punt-return mark represents an uptick for Ross after he averaged 8.9 in that category with the Lions in 2014.
The Lions now employ the Jets’ top return man from 2015, with Kerley’s 411 punt-return yards (although only on 8.6 per jaunt) with the Jets last season trailing only Darren Sproles in that category.