The New York Jets have cleared more cap space as the Aaron Rodgers talks continue
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the New York Jets have cleared $15.2 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of three veteran players: D.J. Reed, Laken Tomlinson, and Tyler Conklin. All three players were signed by the Jets as free agents in 2022.
The Jets have restructured the contracts of G Laken Tomlinson, CB DJ Reed and TE Tyler Conklin, creating $15.2M in cap space for 2023, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 11, 2023
With these restructures, the Jets have now cleared a total of $23.8 million in cap space with five moves over the past few days. The Jets had already restructured C.J. Uzomah’s contract to clear $3.6 million in cap space, while the release of Braxton Berrios cleared another $5 million in space.
However, the Jets did add Chuck Clark onto their cap sheet, who is slated to have a cap hit of $4.1 million this season. The Jets acquired Clark from the Baltimore Ravens for a 2024 seventh-round pick.
Throwing in Clark’s contract, the Jets have cleared a total of $19.7 million in cap space this week.
That should be more than enough to fit in Rodgers, who is expected to have a cap hit of $15.7 million in 2023. It’s the future years that make his contract daunting. But Rodgers is expected to rework his contract to facilitate any trade, so it’s unknown what his cap hit in 2023 and beyond will actually be if he does indeed get traded.
Regardless of whether or not Rodgers comes in, the Jets needed cap space anyway if they had any hopes of adding players in free agency.
The NFL’s legal tampering window opens at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, March 13.
Restructure Mosely, Lawson and JFM, and cut Whitehead. We should be over $40mil in space by that point. I’d keep Davis as it’s going to cost a lot more to replace his value.
I’m on the “keep Davis” train. I don’ think it makes sense to get the QB and weaken the QB group. I think they may like Lazard to take his place.
I saw on bleacher report they are also trying to restructure JFM, Davis, Mosely and Lawson. I’m sure there is more to come, do you have any details on how this impacts future cap flexibility?
Is it possible they are negotiating some sort of extension with Lawson that pays him longer but at closer to market prices?
I’m wondering if they are converting to signing bonuses that are now spread out over future cap, with would limit flexibility in the future? I’m not saying they are wrong in what they are doing, just wondering.
I always tell my buddies, it’s great to have cap space but teams with a lot of cap space have a shortage of good players.
Keep in mind, not only Rogers but they need to extend Q.
I’m not a contract expert but it seems likely the restructures they’ve made will hurt them in future years. Making such a high quantity of these moves tells me they probably have short-term additions in mind… Rodgers plus probably one other big fish, I’m thinking. That’s just the hunch I get, but I could obviously be wrong.
That Lawson possibility could be on the table, but Lawson might want to bet on himself if he believes he can take a step up with another year post-surgery.
Quinnen extension should come at some point, I’m thinking it will wait until after the QB move and they know how the long-term picture is looking.
I think you’re right, they will focus on Q once the QB situation is settled. I don’t see how Whitehead stays, that’s a good chunk of free cap. They will still need a center, and DT, so I think they will need something to get Rankins back, and we could see a “pro” center.
I don’t know on Lawson, I know he’s had the injuries, but at some point you are what you are right? He’s always been one of those guys who “gets pressure” but never high sack totals. I’m not sure he’ll have a better situation to ‘bet on himself.” Of course, I’m not an expert and he doesn’t think like me.
I guess the lesson from this exercise is that there are always ways to manipulate the cap.