The New York Jets have gotten cap relief with their first move involving an extension or restructuring — the two typical ways to save money. C.J. Mosley and the Jets have agreed to a new deal that’s a pay cut and some guaranteed money upfront for 2024. Field Yates of ESPN first reported this, and it’s two years, $17.25 million with $14.25 million guaranteed.
The Jets and LB C.J. Mosley have agreed to a two-year, $17.25M deal with $13.25M guaranteed, replacing the final year of his old deal that had no leftover guarantees. The deal includes $9M fully guaranteed in 2024.
Mosley has led the Jets in tackles each of the past 3 seasons…
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 14, 2024
Based on these numbers, we can make a hypothesis of what the new contract would look like.
An NFL contract is broken up into multiple parts. There’s a base salary, a signing bonus (prorate over the length of a contract for a maximum of five years), roster bonuses, incentives, and a workout bonus. There are also league minimum base salaries for all players based on time served. The veteran minimum for Mosley is $1.21 million in 2024.
After restructuring his contract, C.J. Mosley’s base salary for 2024 was $17 million. With a prorated signing bonus of $4,476,000, that brought the cap number to $21.46 million.
The Jets and Mosley agreed to $9 million guaranteed for 2024. It changed his base salary to the league minimum and added a $7.79 million signing bonus. They also added two void years to the end of the contract. That added $1,558,000 in prorated signing bonus to this year’s cap number, but it still brought it down to $7,244,000 — a savings of $14,216,000.
What The C.J. Mosley Contract Means for the Rest of the Offseason
So far, the Jets have signed Tyrod Taylor, John Simpson, Leki Fotu, Isaiah Oliver, Chuck Clark, Thomas Morstead, and Kenny Yeboah (who are unaccounted for, currently, in the cap calculations). They also traded for Morgan Moses. Before this reported move, the Jets only had $11,906,235 in cap space, according to Over the Cap. The move probably covers those deals. Therefore, not much is likely to have changed in that regard.
That doesn’t leave the Jets with much more wiggle room. When figuring out cap space, draft picks must be factored in, because there’s a rookie pool. According to Over the Cap, the current cap charges for Jets rookies will be $10,051,007.
The team shouldn’t spend their entire cap, either. They need space to cover injury replacements and potentially have carryover for 2025.
The Jets could still do simple restructures for their contracts (explained here). Quinnen Williams and John Franklin-Myers would be the most likely candidates. Those would save the Jets an additional $19,826,250. As a result, this means the Jets are likely not going to make any more moves.
What This Means For The NFL Draft
It is very likely the Jets made the moves they did knowing they were close to a new deal with C.J. Mosley. The prior deals, coupled with the Mosley deal, give the Jets more flexibility in the draft.
They do still need two main contributors. One of them must be a starting offensive lineman, and the other must be a vertical threat wide receiver. The additions at defensive tackle and cornerback help the Jets only need safety and offensive line depth, plus a quarterback they can build for the future.
In the end, the Jets have had a decent offseason as they build toward a short Super Bowl window. They still need a couple more pieces, and they’re likely going to be young and inexperienced players. That said, they have a legitimate shot at the playoffs with this offseason.
Main Photo: Ken Blaze – USA Today Sports
