When the 2021 NFL new league year begins on March 17th, the New York Jets will have about $68M in cap space, according to over the cap. This is currently the 3rd highest in the NFL. This number will increase however with certain players that could be cut, and probably should be. These players and the money they will save the Jets are:
Henry Anderson– $8.2M savings, $1.33M dead money. After a 7 sack season in 2018, Mike Maccagnan decided to give Anderson a huge and unwarranted 3 yr, $25.2M contract. Since then, Anderson has 1.5 sacks over the last 2 seasons, and only .5 sacks last season. He’ll also be 30 next season. This is a no-brainer cut.
Greg Van Roten– $3.4M savings, $250k dead money. Unlike Maccagnan who threw money around like it was going out of style, including a quarter of a billion dollars in 2019 free agency alone, he also gave a lot of money to players undeserving of it, like Anderson above. Joe Douglas did not make these same mistakes. Everyone he signed in 2020 free agency with the exception of Connor McGovern, was signed to either a 1 year deal or a deal where there is a potential out after 1 year. Van Roten is in the potential out category. Van Roten was an average guard for the Carolina Panthers for 3 years, which in the NFL, average is not a bad thing. Plus he would have been an upgrade over our horrendous offensive line in 2019, so it was considered a good signing by Joe Douglas. However, Van Roten was a massive liability on the Jets offensive line in 2020, as well ranked 40th in PFFs guards. Now his cap hit isn’t awful, so he could definitely be kept on as a backup. However, if the Jets address the interior of the offensive line in the draft and free agency like we expect them too, plus if Cameron Clark looks good in his sophomore season, Van Roten can easily be cut.
Alex Lewis– $5.36M savings, $1.66M dead money. If you read my offensive line article toward the beginning of the season, you saw that I am not a fan of Lewis at all and why. He is a horrible offensive lineman in my opinion. When he succeeds, it’s because he wins with brute strength and force. His technique is one of the worst I’ve seen. Factor in whatever “issue” he had with the team toward the end of the season as well, and Lewis needs to be cut, and fast.
Ryan Griffin– $1.87M savings, $1.45M dead money. Now normally with how little we would save with cutting Griffin, as well as the almost equal dead money, cutting him wouldn’t even be considered. However, he was a literal non factor in our offense last season. He had just 86 yards, yes 86 yards, and no touchdowns. He had a PFF grade of 56.1. He is also 31 years old. However, my main reason I want to cut him is what he said last offseason. After receiving a 3 year, $10.8M extension, he suffered a bad ankle injury in 2019. Last offseason, in an interview, he said he would “never be the same” after that injury. That is just what fans and coaches want to hear the year you got a contract extension. I’d cut him, regardless of the savings.
Technically, Jamison Crowder and George Fant could be cut as well, but I would not do so, especially Crowder. Crowder was one of the best slot WRs in the NFL last season, and will be a valuable receiving option for whoever is at quarterback. The Jets should plan on addressing the guards and center position in free agency and the draft, so it wouldn’t be wise to have an entirely new offensive line except one player (Mekhi Becton) in 2021. Though George Fant wasn’t great last season, he wasn’t bad either. Factor in his unbelievable athleticism for an offensive lineman, as well that it was his first season as a full time starter and the entire offensive line nominated him to be their captain, I’d retain Geoge Fant as well, at least 1 more season.
Now let’s say the Jets decide to retain Greg Van Roten to be a backup guard, which I am okay with. By cutting the other 3 players, the Jets free up another $15.43M in cap space, increasing their total cap space in 2021 to $83.43M.
Make sure to check out the next Take Flight Media article as well where I will crunch the numbers of the potential contracts of all the top players the Jets want to acquire in free agency, including trading for Deshaun Watson, and I will show how the Jets have the money to pay all of them.