LATEST NEWS: Ex-Lions fullback waived by Jets to make room for former Detroit tight end

ALLEN PARK — The New York Jets swapped some former Detroit Lions players on Tuesday, waiving fullback Nick Bawden to make room for tight end Anthony Firkser.

Bawden was a seventh-round pick of the Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia regime back in 2018. The fullback via San Diego State’s career was derailed by injuries in Detroit, before finding a home in New York. Bawden appeared in a career-high 16 games last year, scoring the lone touchdown of his career in the process.

Firkser played down the stretch for the Lions last season, then saw action in all three playoffs games on their run to the NFC title game. The veteran tight end caught his lone pass for the team in that playoff run, and has proven in the past to be a strong depth option at the position.

The Lions have heavily invested in the tight end room, with Sam LaPorta taken in last year’s second round before a breakout rookie season. They also matched a strong restricted free-agent offer from the San Francisco 49ers to keep Brock Wright around, as well.

James Mitchell is looking to cement his spot at tight end on the roster, but Shane Zylstra is back to his dependable self after suffering a season-ending injury in last year’s training camp. And Dan Campbell recently praised Parker Hesse start to training camp as a physical, hard-nosed depth option to watch. Former Michigan player Sean McKeon is also battling for a spot through training camp.

“Yeah, he did some things. He did some things, which quite frankly, I don’t know if I’m that surprised,” the Lions head coach said of Hesse earlier this week. “That’s kind of his game. Some of these guys, you run all of these pass-specific drills and you’re not in pads, but it’s — that’s kind of more his game too. But I would say, yeah, he showed up.”