The New York Jets are shaking up their training camp roster. They're signing Devon Still, a player better known for something off the field than on the field. When he's on the field, though, he's a defensive tackle, one who could provide depth in the defensive line rotation. That became a necessity for the team after one of the Jets' defensive tackles suffered an injury during practice on Thursday.
Jets pick up some defensive line depth
The news of the transaction first broke on Friday courtesy of ESPN's Adam Schefter. The terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The team also signed defensive lineman Jeremy Faulk while waiving defensive lineman Brandin Bryant and placing defensive back Corey White on injured reserve. Claude Pelon suffered a knee injury during practice on Thursday, forcing the Jets' hands to pursue someone like Still in free agency.
Still will be joining one of the best positional units on the team. The Jets boast Muhammad Wilkerson, Leonard Williams, and at least for now, Sheldon Richardson in the unit. Steve McLendon is around as a reserve as well. Still spent most of the 2016 NFL season on the Houston Texans' injured reserve list. He made his name with the Cincinnati Bengals, who he played for from 2012 to 2014. It was never chiefly about his own playing career, though, but the life of the person he took responsibility for.
Still's story
Still became a national news story because of his daughter's fight with Stage-4 cancer. He promptly put his football career on the backburner to take care of Leah, blasting their story on every social media platform imaginable. Teams around the NFL began showing support in various ways, including donating proceeds of jersey sales to children's hospitals and other worthy causes.
On March 18, 2015, Leah was declared cancer-free.
The honors kept coming for them, with both of them receiving the Jimmy V Award at the 2015 ESPYs. At this point, Still is just trying to get back into his NFL career, which was always undersized in comparison to the other part of his life that became public interest every single day.
He may not be able to do much for the Jets outside of providing some depth during training camp. He clearly has a strong character, though. After some questionable character concerns coming from the Jets over the past few years, it may not hurt to have somebody who can inspire the team, rather than detract from it with attitude problems.
