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New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the New York Giants.
The New York Jets are ready to move on from the Justin Fields era.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic listed Fields as the Jets’ most likely cap casualty this offseason.
“The Jets are going to land somewhere in the range of $70 million to 80 million in cap space without even cutting anyone — and they don’t have a whole lot of options for cap savings anyway outside of defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who won’t be waived. Fields was a disaster last year, his first of a two-year, $40 million contract — $30 million of it guaranteed,” Rosenblatt wrote.
“Unless someone wants to trade for him (unlikely), the Jets will have one of two options for cutting him: do it outright, incur a $22 million dead cap hit and only $1 million in savings, or designate him a post-June 1 cut, spread that dead cap hit out over two years and save $10 million — savings which wouldn’t come onto the books until after June 1. Since the Jets don’t need the space, the first option feels likely,” Rosenblatt explained.
This Isn’t About the Money
The most likely outcome is that Fields will be released ahead of the new league year, which begins on March 11. That will only result in $1 million in savings.
This eventual decision by the Jets isn’t about saving money. It’s about moving on from a failed experiment.
The green and white went all in on Fields. They thought they could unlock a new level in his game. Gang Green wasn’t successful. If anything, they unlocked a new level in his game in a bad way.
Fields looked as bad as he ever has at the NFL level.
It was the season from hell on and off the field. The former Ohio State product got benched halfway through the season due to his ineffectiveness. Team owner Woody Johnson threw Fields under the bus during the October league meetings, blaming him for the team’s lack of winning.
In a twist of fate, Fields was forced to step on the field days later due to injury.
It just didn’t work out. Now the Jets have to go in a new direction in an attempt to solve their decades-long search to find the next franchise quarterback.
Aaron Glenn Has No Choice but to Call an Audible
ESPN’s Ben Solak said the Jets should consider running it back with Fields and Tyrod Taylor in 2026 because the alternatives aren’t better.
Even if that were true, head coach Aaron Glenn can’t do it because of the perception. The Jets went 3-14 with Taylor and Fields starting the majority of the games this past season.
Running it back with this group would be openly waving the white flag on the 2026 season before it even began.
Glenn is on the hot seat heading into next year, and he can’t afford to pull off that maneuver. If he doesn’t produce results, Glenn is going to be gone in 2027.
That means he and general manager Darren Mougey must pull out all of the stops to find an answer at the game’s most important position.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini said the Jets will be “ultra aggressive” this offseason in the QB market.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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