The New York Jets are set to receive a windfall of cold, hard cash.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed in a column that veterans Aaron Rodgers and C.J. Mosley are both currently counting “a combined $36.3 million on the salary cap.”
However, on June 2, “that number drops to $13.5 million.” The Jets designated both of those individuals as post-June 1 designations. That meant the team would carry their full contract hits through June 1, but on June 2, they would be able to split those hits over two years.
That’ll create $22.8 million in cap relief. The Jets currently have $25 million in cap space, which ranks No. 16 in the NFL, per Over The Cap. After they receive the cap relief from Mosley and Rodgers, the Jets will have $47.8 million in available cap space. That new figure would provide the Jets with the second-most cap space in the league.
Cimini explained this newfound money will provide “plenty of flexibility to sign [Garrett] Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner to contract extensions.”
Time for the Jets to Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is
Wilson confirmed when speaking with the media this week that his agent and the Jets have had discussions about a long-term deal.
There has been no word on whether those same talks have happened with Gardner’s camp yet.
This offseason, head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey have said how important it is to keep their own.
“I think the one philosophy that me and Darren want to make sure is the guys that we draft here, that we raise here, that understand what it is to be a Jet, we want to keep those men here. It was great that [Jamien] Sherwood was the first guy that we both put on our resume that we signed here as a true Jet,” Glenn said via “The Offseason: Chapter 1” on One Jets Drive.
A NEW ERA! #Jets HC Aaron Glenn explained how important it is for this regime to take care of their own:
‘I think the one philosophy that me & Darren [Mougey] want to make sure is the guys that we draft here, that we raise here, that understand what it is to be a Jet, we want… pic.twitter.com/FmmY31AfMY
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) May 14, 2025
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While technically Glenn and Mougey didn’t draft Gardner or Wilson, the message is still the same.
Sherwood wasn’t drafted by Mougey or Glenn, but when they came in, they realized how important a player he was to this team’s present and future. They got that done.
“It was definitely a priority for me and AG to keep him [Sherwood] around,” Mougey said via “The Offseason: Chapter 1” on One Jets Drive.
Now it’s Gardner and Wilson’s turn.
Eventually the Grim Reaper Will Come to Collect the Rest
The Jets will benefit in 2025 from their post-June 1 designations.
They will have more money in the emergency fund in 2025. That could mean signing a veteran later because of an injury. Or perhaps if the right trade presents itself, the Jets would be more available to make a potential move because of this newfound cap space versus another team.
However, in 2026, the Jets will be paying an iron price they wouldn’t have had to if they had eaten the Rodgers and Mosley cap hits all on the books in 2025.
No one likes taking their medicine. For the most part, vegetables aren’t the tastiest things on the menu. However, both of these things are necessary evils for survival.
According to Spotrac, the Jets will still have a $35 million dead cap hit for Rodgers and a $7.65 million dead cap hit for Mosley in 2026. So they will take their lumps eventually for their June 1 decisions this year.
In other words, the Jets took the cookie out of the jar, and they have to make it count in 2025. Whether that be by way of getting extensions done early or making some noise this season by maximizing the additional cap space they received.
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