The New York Jets placed quarterback Justin Fields on injured reserve on Tuesday, December 23. That ended his 2025 season and likely his tenure with the green and white.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini posted on social media, “I doubt that Fields ever suits up again for the Jets. They owe him $10M gtd next season, but it’s time to move on. It didn’t work. Time for a reset at QB.”
“The Jets placed Fields on injured reserve on Wednesday, head coach Aaron Glenn announced. That ends the quarterback’s season, likely his only one with the Jets despite signing a two-year, $40 million deal as a free agent in March,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic wrote.
Cap Ripple Effects if the Jets Decide to Move on From Fields
Fields signed a two-year $40 million deal that included $30 million in guarantees during free agency last offseason.
“If Fields is released in the offseason, the Jets will have paid him $30 million — the guaranteed money he received on his two-year deal — for nine games. The Jets are projected to have significant cap space, so they can afford to eat the cap hit; they’d incur $22 million in dead cap with $1 million in savings if he’s cut before June 1. If he’s designated a post-June 1 cut, the team would incur a $13 million dead cap hit in 2026 with the rest spread out over multiple seasons. They’d save $6 million in cap space in that scenario,” Rosenblatt explained.
If that is what it’s going to cost to move on, why not keep Fields?
Cimini explained in his column that the Jets are going to need multiple quarterback additions this offseason.
“The Jets might opt for a complete reset at quarterback, which could mean adding a veteran and a rookie,” Cimini wrote.
Couldn’t Fields be that veteran either as a bridge or behind the rookie?
Why Move On? Can’t You Keep Him as the QB2?
“Fields raised eyebrows Nov. 26 with a response to a question about whether he would be open to a small package of plays as a Wildcat quarterback — a way to capitalize on his speed. Fields said there had been discussions about using him in that role, but he told reporters that he had ‘mixed feelings’ about it,” Cimini revealed.
“Fields said he wanted to be a team player but expressed concern about the potential for injury, saying he would be prone to soft tissue injuries from going into a game cold. He noted that he was ‘still not necessarily as healthy as I want to be right now. ‘[Fields] was listed with a knee injury for one week in October; it didn’t cost him any practice time,” Cimini wrote.
Fields was raked over the coals on social media for his apparent refusal and/or hesitance to help out the team any way that he could. Especially considering he had $30 million guaranteed in his contract.
When Fields was no longer the starter, a mysterious knee injury popped up, and he seemed disinterested in returning to the lineup.
Both head coach Aaron Glenn and Fields refused to comment on his future with the team.
“I don’t know what I’m going to eat for dinner tonight, so I can’t even worry about what’s going to happen after the season,” Fields told Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “We’ll just see and take it day by day.”
“We will see how that goes. We are focused on New England right now,” Coach Glenn responded when asked if he anticipates Fields being on the team in 2026.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Justin Fields Likely Never Plays for Jets Again, Cap Impact Explained appeared first on Heavy Sports.