Lucky Whitehead has found his new team.
Whitehead, the receiver recently released by the Cowboys, has been claimed on waivers by the Jets. The move makes some sense, as Whitehead is both young and cheap, two qualities the Jets are looking for in this rebuilding season: The 25-year-old Whitehead is playing for the league-minimum salary on the contract he signed as an undrafted rookie in 2015.
The Cowboys placed Whitehead on waivers yesterday after an odd situation in which police said he had been arrested for shoplifting, only to say later that they had actually arrested someone else who gave them Whitehead’s name. Dallas appeared ready to move on from Whitehead for both on-field and off-field reasons regardless of the facts of that case.
With the Jets, Whitehead will compete for a roster spot as both a receiver and a return man. He probably has a better chance of making the 53-man roster in New York than he did in Dallas, so getting waived at the start of camp -- rather than at the end of the preseason -- may turn out to be a lucky break for Whitehead.