Maybin makes cut, at least for now

Aaron Maybin avoided the dreaded ax Saturday, the one that fell on 26 others around him.

The Bills' former first-round pick basically has been on a tryout with the Jets since signing a one-year deal Aug. 13, two days after Buffalo cut him loose. But pending any further moves by the Jets, the linebacker finds himself on the initial 53-man roster, which was revealed just after Saturday's 6 p.m. deadline.

The Jets also made a couple of moves before completing their roster, trading safety Dwight Lowery to Jacksonville and acquiring guard Caleb Schlauderaff from Green Bay.

Maybin, who failed to record a regular-season sack in his two years with the Bills, was the biggest name on the Jets' proverbial roster bubble and managed to secure one of the final available roster positions. He responded with 11/2 sacks in Thursday's preseason finale against the Eagles and should have had another one, but backup quarterback Vince Young slipped out of his grasp.

"Certainly, he did have some moments in that Philly game,'' Rex Ryan said Saturday. "He had a sack and a half, and he actually missed another one. But certainly he played well and again, he's on our roster. He's one of those guys we had talked about.

"We had probably three spots open and I thought his play rushing the passer, that's what landed him on the roster.''

Ryan said the Jets shipped Lowery to the Jaguars because they were comfortable with the way things stood in their secondary, given that they already have Jim Leonhard, Eric Smith, Brodney Pool and Emmanuel Cook at safety.

"I just think that it's an opportunity for Dwight to go to a place where he's really going to be used and competing for that starting nickel job," Ryan said. "He can get more playing time and things. For us, we felt that we had the depth that we needed in the back end.''

As for Schlauderaff, the Jets took a hard look at drafting the 6-4, 302-pound rookie in April. Schlauderaff, a four-year starter at Utah who earned second-team All-American honors and garnered first-team All-Mountain West Conference accolades this past season, can play both guard positions. He also can line up at center, something that should greatly improve the Jets' questionable offensive line depth, given that Rob Turner is out indefinitely with a broken leg and second-year reserve Vladimir Ducasse's play still is extremely shaky.

"I think without question, this helps us," Ryan said. "This is a young man that we really were interested in, and when we watched the tape, we were excited about him. I feel better about our depth now than I did, that's for sure."

Ryan said the Jets don't have any immediate plans to put Turner, third-string quarterback Greg McElroy or wideout Logan Payne (wrist) on injured reserve. He didn't rule out snatching up any of those quarterbacks who were cut Saturday -- though he wouldn't specifically address any potential interest in old friends Kellen Clemens or Kevin O'Connell -- to give the Jets two healthy bodies behind Mark Sanchez.

Either way, the Jets' roster is far from set, so Maybin and anyone else on the fringe still has to be wary. The Jets typically tinker with things in the days after the final preseason roster cutdown, so general manager Mike Tannenbaum likely will scour the waiver wire and tweak their 53-man list in the coming days, trying to solidify various areas of concern with better depth.

"That is always a possibility,'' Ryan said. "The way Mike is, he does a great job and has his guys looking at every possibility. We'll look into those rosters of all these teams and guys that were let go. If we think there's an opportunity to upgrade our football team, obviously we've had a history of doing that and most certainly will look at all possibilities.''