Un-Lucky? Released Dallas WR Whitehead claimed by lowly Jets

Charles Robinson
·Senior NFL reporter

It has been a crazy week for Lucky Whitehead.

On Monday, TMZ reported that the 26-year old receiver/returner had been arrested for petit larceny in Virginia. The Dallas Cowboys, calling themselves trying to finally hold one of their players accountable, released Whitehead.

Cut by Dallas, Lucky Whitehead was claimed off waivers by the Jets. (AP)
Cut by Dallas, Lucky Whitehead was claimed off waivers by the Jets. (AP)

But in one of the rare cases of “it wasn’t me” actually being true, it turned out police in Prince William County issued a warrant for the wrong guy. The Cowboys stuck by their decision to release Whitehead, with Jason Garrett just repeating “we made a decision that we thought was in the best interest of the team” during a press conference.

So Whitehead hit the waiver wire, available to whichever team wanted to claim him.

And he’s been claimed by…the New York Jets. Which, given how bad the Jets could be this season, might not be much better than having not been claimed at all. (Sorry, Jets fans.)

Whitehead played a minimal role on offense with the Cowboys his first two seasons, but he was the team’s primary kickoff and punt returner.