Jets Stash Rookies Cooper, Payne on IR While Cutting to 53
New York parked two 2026 draft picks on injured reserve with return designations, meaning both miss the first four games before they're eligible.
Waived by the Jets and off the fantasy radar entirely.
- Cooper (Rd 6) and Payne (Rd 7) on IR, return-designated
- Both eligible to return after Week 4
- LB Tyler Baron stays on PUP, out first 4 games
- Brown, Trayanum, Walker on season-ending IR
- Zappe and Cook among 30-plus players cut
The Jets set their initial 53-man roster and made a telling move with their draft class: sixth-round guard Anez Cooper and seventh-round safety VJ Payne both landed on injured reserve with return designations. That means both rookies miss at least the first four games of the regular season before they're eligible to rejoin the active roster — a stash-and-develop play rather than a cut.
Linebacker Tyler Baron stays on the physically unable to perform list, which sidelines him for the same first four-game window. Three others weren't so lucky: cornerback Tre Brown, running back Chip Trayanum, and linebacker Mykal Walker all went on season-ending injured reserve with no path back this year.
The bulk of the news, though, was the roster purge. New York waived or released more than 30 players to trim down to 53, a list that ran from special-teamers to depth pieces at nearly every position group.
The Fantasy Fallout
For most fantasy managers, this is a non-event — Cooper, Payne and Baron are development projects, not roster targets in any format. But two names on the cut list matter for the deep-league crowd who like to speculate on backup quarterbacks. Both Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook got the axe.
Zappe's fantasy profile is thin: one game in the 2024 season for 170 passing yards, a touchdown against two interceptions, and just 7 PPR points on the year — actual, not projected. Cook carries our current rank of #362 overall (#49 among quarterbacks) after a rough 2025 sample of 739 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 7 interceptions across five games, worth 29 actual PPR points.
Bottom line: if you were holding either quarterback in a dynasty or deep bench spot, they're droppable now that the Jets have moved on. There's nothing actionable in the Cooper and Payne IR designations for fantasy purposes — file them under "watch for 2027" and move along. Your waiver dollars belong elsewhere.
