What was meant to be a nice post by the Jaguars on one of their players’ birthday turned into a hilariously cold moment when he was released just hours later.
Foley Fatukasi was released by Jacksonville on Monday, according to multiple reports, roughly 4 1/2 hours after the Jags posted the birthday wishes on their X account, drawing plenty of reaction from fans.
Fatusaski, who played six seasons in the NFL including his first four with the Jets, turned 29.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that the defensive tackle would be cut and the move would save the Jaguars $3.5 million on the salary cap.
He did not acknowledge the news in any of the posts made to his Instagram Story throughout the day.
“This is messed up to cut him on his birthday,” one user on X wrote in response to the Jaguars’ post.
At the time of this writing, the happy birthday message remained the last thing that the team had posted on X.
“Nah no way yall posted this knowing he was getting cut 2 hours later,” another person wrote with two crying laughing emojis at the end.
“Well, you guys made it a memorable one for him. So, great job?!” a third person commented.
Unfortunately for Fatusaski, the decision wasn’t a surprise after struggling with the Jaguars over the last few seasons.
Despite an expectation that Fatusaski would be a big part of Jacksonville’s defensive line after signing a three-year, $30 million contract in 2022, he only registered 48 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 30 games for the Jags.
The cap space will be important for the Jaguars this offseason with the team needing to re-sign edge Josh Allen and star receiver Calvin Ridley.
Prior to the move to release Fatukasi, the Jaguars had $25.7 million in cap space.
It’s safe to say that this will be a birthday that he won’t forget.