Ryan Griffin signs with Jets to add depth at tight end

The Jets are adding some insurance at tight end with Chris Herndon suspended for the first four games of the season.

Veteran tight end Ryan Griffin is signing with the Jets, the team announced Monday. Griffin, 29, spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Texans. He has 136 catches for 1,491 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Texans waived Griffin a couple of weeks after he was arrested and charged with vandalism and public intoxication in Nashville the weekend of the NFL Draft. The charges were later dismissed.

The Jets could use depth at tight end, where Griffin will compete with Eric Tomlinson, rookie Trevon Wesco and Daniel James for the job during camp, which opens Thursday.

Herndon was suspended by the NFL on July 12 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court on Jan. 9 to driving while intoxicated, stemming from an accident on June 2, 2018. Herndon crashed his Nissan Armada into a Toyota Land Cruiser that was transporting another vehicle on Interstate 80 West in Rockaway Township, according to New Jersey State Police. Herndon paid a fine of $639 and had his license revoked in New Jersey for 90 days, a Rockaway Township court spokesman said.

Herndon was a bright spot as a rookie last season, catching 39 passes for 502 yards and four touchdowns.

The Jets also announced that they placed safeties Marcus Maye and Brandon Bryant on the active/physically unable to perform list and rookie cornerback Blessuan Austin on the active/non-football-injury list.

Maye is recovering from shoulder surgery. Austin, a sixth-round pick this year, is rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered during his senior season at Rutgers. All three players can return to practice when they are cleared.