ClutchPoints
The New York Jets are facing the consequences of being guided by a win-now mentality for the last two seasons before officially giving up on the Aaron Rodgers experiment. The team has a number of players hitting free agency this offseason after they were handed short term deals aimed at getting New York over the hump and delivering the organization’s first championship since Joe Namath made good on his famous/cursed guarantee following the 1968 season (spoiler alert: the Jets did not win a championship).
As it turns out, the strategy failed and the Jets did not win the second championship in franchise history. Now the team is expected to lose key players on both sides of the ball this offseason to free agency.
When you factor in the cuts New York is likely to make, including Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Greg Zuerlein, Michael Clemons and, sadly, C.J. Mosley, the Jets are looking at a tremendous amount of turnover in Aaron Glenn’s first season as head coach.
Additionally, the team is limited in its ability to re-sign players or find free agent replacements as the salary cap suffered due to the organization’s ill fated win-now strategy. The Jets are in the bottom third of the league in available cap space with around $20 million to spend, according to Over the Cap. That figure will increase with the plethora of cuts the team is expected to make. But either way, new GM Darren Mougey is facing a difficult situation.
That said, there are always options. Assuming New York isn’t planning to undergo a full-on tank job in Aaron Glenn’s first season at the helm in an attempt to land Arch Manning in the 2026 draft (Misery for Manning? Underachieve for Arch?), the Jets can make some crafty decisions that put the team in a position to eke out a respectable showing while the organization builds for the future.
Of course, that’s the last thing Jets fans were hoping to hear after being told the team is just a quarterback away from competing for a title – and then giving up two second-round picks for Aaron Rodgers, which resulted in five total wins. That’s a rate of one second rounder for every 2.5 wins!
Nonetheless, here we are. Neck deep in another rebuild and searching for the team’s first franchise quarterback in 57 years.
So Rodgers and all his pals are gone, for better or worse, creating the need for a quarterback and at least one receiver opposite Garrett Wilson. But we’ll address the defense first here.
As discussed, cuts are necessary to create salary cap space and the Jets are expected to let D.J Reed, Solomon Thomas, Javon Kinlaw, and Haason Reddick walk in free agency. Those losses will force New York to address the secondary and defensive line in the draft and with sneaky, short term signings.
First and foremost, the Jets must look in-house and make re-signing breakout linebacker [Jamien Sherwood...
