Jets claim Stony Brook alum Will Tye off waivers from Giants
Giants tight end Will Tye warms up before a preseason game against the Jets at Met Life Stadium on Aug. 26, 2017. Credit: Alan J Schaefer
Will Tye is back in the NFL, and he did not have to change home stadiums in the process.
One day after the Giants waived Tye — briefly leaving no former Stony Brook player in the NFL for the first time in 23 months — the Jets claimed the tight end on waivers Sunday.
Adding Tye was a logical move for the Jets, who will play their first two games without their top player at that position, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, because of a suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
That would have left them to start the season with Jordan Leggett, Eric Tomlinson and James Vander Laan as the options at tight end.
Tye, 25, started 10 games for the Giants last season, totaling 48 receptions for 395 yards and one touchdown. In his two seasons, he had 90 receptions for 859 yards and four TDs.
The addition of first-round draft choice Evan Engram and free agent Rhett Ellison bolstered the position for the Giants, making Tye expendable.
The Jets claimed three others off waivers: receiver/returner Kalif Raymond from the Broncos, linebacker Edmond Robinson from the Vikings and receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow from the Dolphins.
Stringfellow went undrafted this past spring out of the University of Mississippi. He started at the University of Washington but left after being arrested on assault charges following the 2013 season.
To make room for the newcomers, the Jets released veteran linebacker Bruce Carter and waived linebacker Freddie Bishop, running back/returner Marcus Murphy and Vander Laan. Tye caught four passes for 48 yards but also had a key fumble Thursday night in the Giants’ preseason finale against the Patriots.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be ready, that’s for sure,” he said after the game.
Coach Ben McAdoo said of letting Tye go, “Will is a guy that played a lot of football for us and played well. That was a tough decision to make, but we feel we chose the best four for our football team moving forward.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
