The Jets made their push during the 2023 season to try and strike in what they believed what a championship window with their young and strong roster, specifically on the defensive side of the football. They’ll tell you this wasn’t an all-in for 2023, but at least a two-year window. They needed that extra time after quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles tear four snaps into his Jets debut and the Jets having to turn back to Zach Wilson after they spent all offseason courting Rodgers to replace Wilson.
The Jets sit at 4-5 just past the midway point of the season and the offense has been stalling again, to say the least. The Jets still have hopes for a playoff spot in 2023, but may also have one eye on the 2024 season with a healthy Rodgers. They’ll also have their first-round pick since Rodgers won’t play enough snaps to meet the 65% condition of the trade with the Packers.
As of now, the Jets have about $6.5 million in cap space for this season and about $30 million for 2024.
Let’s put one eye to the future ourselves and take a look at the Jets’ salary-cap situation for 2024. All numbers and cap hits are courtesy of Over the Cap.
Quarterback
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Under contract: $28,345,419
- Aaron Rodgers: $17,161,112
- Zach Wilson: $11,184,307
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Free agent:
- Tim Boyle
The Jets used void years and multiple options to help spread out the cap hit of Rodgers’ revised three-year, $112.5 million contract. His base salary is only $3.1 million but he has a $35 million guaranteed option for next year. With Rodgers pushing to play again this year and his comments not long after the injury, it’s safe to say No. 8 will be back in 2024.
The Jets also have to make a decision on the fifth-year option for Wilson, but let’s be honest here, there’s no decision to be made. As much as the Jets want to coddle Wilson and hang on to every sliver of hope, there’s no way they can justify exercising his option. The Jets would guarantee Wilson a projected $20,265,000, potentially as much as about $23 million, if they exercise the option.
Running Back
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Under contract: $4,612,668
- Breece Hall: $2,458,573
- Nick Bawden: $1,155,000
- Israel Abanikanda: $999,095
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Free agent:
- Dalvin Cook
The Dalvin Cook experiment has not panned out yet this season, but it was only a one-year deal. The Jets currently have a young and cheap running back group for 2024. With Breece Hall playing as well as he has, and staying healthy, the Jets won’t have to tweak this group too much. Abanikanda should see more playing time now that Michael Carter has been released and should grow into a bigger role in 2024.
Wide Receiver
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Under contract: $20,549,638
- Allen Lazard: $12,184,000
- Garrett Wilson: $5,605,638
- Jason Brownlee: $925,000
- Xavier Gipson: $920,000
- Irvin Charles: $915,000
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Free agent:
- Randall Cobb
Lazard’s deal already looks in rough shape. His recent struggles have magnified the lack of depth at the wide receiver position. He’s likely not going anywhere in 2024 as his $10 million base salary is already guaranteed.
Gipson has already overtaken Cobb as the No. 3 wide receiver, but the Jets may look to add some bodies here in a year where they may very well push all-in. Charles has become a nice special-teams find for the Jets.
Tight End
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Under contract: $21,685,885
- C.J. Uzomah: $11,221,668
- Tyler Conklin: $9,088,334
- Jeremy Ruckert: $1,375,883
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Free agent:
- Kenny Yeboah (RFA)
Uzomah is almost certainly a cap casualty in 2024. He has a non-guaranteed $8 million salary next season and the Jets can save $5.3 million in cap space by moving from him. Ruckert has shown he can be the No. 2 tight end and the Jets like Yeboah. He can slide in as the No. 3. The Jets also have seventh-round pick Zack Kuntz on the practice squad.
Offensive Line
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Under contract: $31,334,326
- Laken Tomlinson: $18,880,000
- Alijah Vera-Tucker: $5,054,329
- Wes Schweitzer: $2,300,000
- Joe Tippmann: $1,899,910
- Max Mitchell: $1,184,007
- Carter Warren: $1,101,080
- Chris Glaser: $915,000
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Free agent:
- Duane Brown (void contract leaves $4.728 million in dead money)
- Connor McGovern
- Billy Turner
- Dennis Kelly
- Mekhi Becton
One of the decisions the Jets will have to make is on Laken Tomlinson. He has a non-guaranteed $12.6 million base salary for 2024, but the Jets can also choose to restructure his contract, which already has three void years on it after next season, pushing more dead money into 2025.
Brown is a free agent after the season, but with his contract having void years, he will count $4.7 million in dead money next year. Hard to imagine the Jets bringing back a 39-year-old offensive tackle who has been oft-injured in his two years with the team.
Becton is an interesting situation for the Jets. He’s been up and down for the Jets this season. At times, he looked like he would settle right in again as the team’s left tackle of the future, but some recent struggles may have clouded those thoughts a bit. He may be one of the top priorities for the Jets this offseason, but you can’t rule out an offensive tackle in the first round, especially after the Jets missed out on the top options in the 2023 draft, including watching as the Patriots traded the pick right before the Jets to the Steelers to select Georgia’s Broderick Jones.
Defensive Line
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Under contract: $45,582,772
- Quinnen Williams: $20,400,000
- John Franklin-Myers: $16,364,000
- Will McDonald: $3,709,469
- Jermaine Johnson: $3,569,303
- Quinton Jefferson: $1,540,000
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Free agent:
- Carl Lawson (void contract leaves $6.3 million in dead money)
- Quinton Jefferson (void contract leaves $1.54 million in dead money)
- Solomon Thomas
- Al Woods
- Ifeadi Odenigbo
- Bryce Huff
- Bradlee Anae
The Jets will have to restock the defensive line again next season with a handful of contributors this season all set to hit the market this offseason. The top priority here has to be Bryce Huff, who has become a bigger part of the rotation up front and is tied with Jermaine Johnson for the team lead with five sacks. The Jets have to find a way to keep Huff around. It’s a big void if they don’t.
Could the Jets restructure the contract of John Franklin-Myers again? They did so before this season. He is due a $13.3 million base salary. $2 million of that salary becomes guaranteed in March.
Linebacker
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Under contract: $32,265,606
- C.J. Mosley: $21,476,000
- Quincy Williams: $6,900,000
- Jamien Sherwood: $1,143,714
- Chazz Surratt: $985,000
- Zaire Barnes: $963,392
- Maalik Hall: $797,500
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Free agent:
- Sam Eguavoen
There was talk the Jets might restructure the contract of C.J. Mosley, but that never happened. The Jets rolled with his cap number of $21.476 million. He’s set to have that same number next year. Look for those rumblings to come back again. His contract voids in 2025 and would leave about $6 million in dead money.
Quincy Williams’ contract already looks like a bargain. He’s having an exceptional season and his contract is only $6 million per year. At some point, the Jets may look to give him more money.
The rest of the linebacker room will cost less than $3 million in cap space next season. Sherwood has been a decent No. 3 linebacker and Surratt has helped on special teams. Barnes just started seeing action recently due to Surratt’s injury.
Cornerback
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Under contract: $27,053,725
- D.J. Reed: $15,695,000
- Sauce Gardner: $9,122,945
- Michael Carter II: $1,137,232
- Brandin Echols: $1,098,548
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Free agent:
- Bryce Hall
- Javelin Guidry
- Justin Hardee
The Jets get one more year of Sauce Gardner on a cheap contract before he is eligible to restructure his contract and earn more money. Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander has the highest average-per-year contract at the position at $21 million. Safe to say when negotiations begin for Gardner, the talks start there.
D.J. Reed is also entering a contract year. His deal voids in 2025 and would currently leave $4.62 million in dead money. Needless to say, the Jets will soon be quite busy with new contracts at the cornerback position.
They should also start setting some money aside for Michael Carter II as well. Carter is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is set to make just $1.055 million as one of the best nickel corners in the league.
Safety
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Under contract: $1,944,430
- Tony Adams:$988,334
- Jarrick Bernard-Converse: $956,096
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Free agent:
- Jordan Whitehead (void contract leaves $3.3 million in dead money)
- Adrian Amos
- Chuck Clark
- Ashtyn Davis
Needless to say, safety is a need in 2024. The Jets could try to bring back Whitehead. Other top free agents include Micah Hyde, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jayron Kearse, Xavier McKinney and Kyle Dugger.
Adams has solidified himself in the defense and the Jets hope Bernard-Converse can start coming along after missing all of training camp and the first month of the regular season. The Jets love his versatility in the backfield.
Davis has been a key on special teams. Could that help him get a new contract in New York?
Specialists
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Under contract: $1,385,000
- LS Thomas Hennessy: $1,385,000
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Free agent:
- K Greg Zuerlein
- P Thomas Morstead
Zuerlein and Morstead could be easy re-signs after their respective seasons in 2023. Could the Jets bring in fresh faces after the draft? Sure. But no one would fault them for running it back with the two veterans.
