Jets' New Lineman Sparks Frenzy: 3 Teams Tried to Snatch Him Off Waivers!

Jets fans now get to learn which other teams also had eyes on Phidarian Mathis.

When news broke that the the New York Jets had claimed former Washington Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis off of waivers in a steep competition, it left NFL fans with one massive question: which other teams tried to claim the former second-round pick?

Did another AFC East team have eyes on the Alamaba product? Or did the Jets simply have a high evaluation of him coming out of college and wanted to secure his services, even though the man who made the evaluations, Joe Douglas, no longer works for the team? Is this a sort of pre-agency, where the Jets get to check out Mathis for a week and get to have his contract in 2025, hoping that he will fit whatever scheme they end up with under whichever head coach they hire?

Well, while fans don't know why the Jets picked up Mathis, they now at least know which teams they beat out for his services, as Ian Rapoport reported that a trio of teams with playoff aspirations also made claims on the Crimson Tide member's services.

Welp, there you go, folks: the Jets used their muscle to make sure that Mathis can't spend the week or the next few weeks helping a team like the Bengals, Texans, or Lions in their pursuits of playoff and, eventually, Super Bowl glory. They can now pencil in the 6-foot-4, 312-pound linemen next to Quinnen Williams and William McDonald either as a 4-3 defensive tackle or a 3-4 defensive end somewhere on the depth chart and hope that, no matter which players decide to leave in free agency, of which DJ Reed has already said he plans to, they will be able to field a respectable unit. They don't have to overcommit to players they don't believe in in the 2025 NFL draft or in free agency, and at worst, they got a competent pro who can soak up snaps at the bottom of a rotation.

Will it work? Will Mathis become a player in New York? Or will he struggle to find a long-term him and instead have to look elsewhere for a chance to start? Well, after playing just 463 snaps as a second-round pick since 2022, it's clear things haven't gone as planned for Mathis at the NFL level. If he can find a home in New York, great, but considering his contract value is low, and the team already plans to bring in Ron Rivera for an interview, who knows, maybe Mathis will end up being useful in helping his new teammates learn his old scheme from 2022-24? That's worth blocking a team like the Lions from adding some depth to their defensive line ahead of the playoffs, right?