Jets cut O'Connell after Clemens reworks deal to be No. 3 QB

Published: Aug 31, 2010 at 07:41 AM

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Kevin O'Connell is out, and Kellen Clemens is safe.

The New York Jets waived O'Connell on Tuesday, clearing the way for Clemens to make the team as the No. 3 quarterback.

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Clemens signed a new deal Tuesday morning, restructuring his $1.1 million tender and taking a pay cut while securing his spot on the Jets' roster. He said he was given permission to speak with other teams about a trade during the past week, but he decided to stay with the Jets despite some opportunities elsewhere.

"I feel good with where I'm at," said Clemens, who declined to go into specifics about his new one-year contract.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said Monday that Clemens, entering his fifth season, had a "pretty strong chance" of making the opening-day roster. Ryan reiterated that Tuesday, saying Clemens had outperformed O'Connell this summer despite "Hard Knocks" showing an "X" next to Clemens' name on a depth chart in last week's episode.

"The only way Kellen Clemens was not going to be on this team was if somebody was going to give him a chance to be a starting quarterback," Ryan said. "I would've traded him, and I told Kellen that before."

Clemens said he still might have been cut if had he not agreed to take a lesser salary.

"That's the way the roster thing was," Ryan said. "That's the truth. Well, that would be a way, obviously, that he would be cut if he doesn't take it. Absolutely, because you can't have all of your quarterbacks at X-amount of dollars."

O'Connell was acquired from the Detroit Lions in a trade last September and was competing with Clemens for the No. 3 job behind starter Mark Sanchez and backup Mark Brunell.

Ryan said the Jets decided to release O'Connell now rather than after Thursday night's preseason finale at Philadelphia because they already are starting to prepare for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

"So, the more things we put in, we don't need that information going out," Ryan said. "It also gives him an opportunity because there are some teams looking for a quarterback."

O'Connell was a third-round draft pick by the New England Patriots out of San Diego State in 2008. He was cut last offseason and claimed off waivers by the Lions.

The move Tuesday put the Jets at 74 players -- one below the limit teams needed to reach by the end of the day.

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