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The New York Jets might have to choose which defensive lineman they prefer to keep.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said if Gang Green re-signs Bryce Huff this offseason, “they might need to cut costs somewhere because that won’t be a cheap deal.”
A name he mentioned as a potential cap casualty is veteran John Franklin-Myers who is in the middle of a $55 million contract.
“JFM has been a quality player but the Jets also just used a first-round pick on [Will] McDonald and he’ll have to play more next year,” Rosenblatt said.
The Writing Might Be on the Wall for Jets DL JFM
JFM, 27, still has two more years left on his deal that’ll keep him under contract through the 2025 season.
Rosenblatt said that it’s “more likely” he returns to the Jets than not because of his “versatility” to play multiple positions on the defensive line.
However, Rich Cimini of ESPN said Franklin-Myers is due $16.4 million next season and he called that “too high a number for him.”
“They [the Jets] are going to have to do something there. Either cut him or renegotiate. They can save $7.3 million by cutting him,” Cimini explained on “The Flight Deck Podcast.”
The Jets would have similar cap savings if they traded JFM instead. Rosenblatt said they would save “$7 million” by dealing him away.
Franklin-Myers won’t turn 28 years of age until the start of the 2024 season. In his four years with the Jets, JFM has registered 17 sacks, 59 quarterback hits, and 20 tackles for loss.
JFM would figure to have trade value based on his statistical production, age, and overall ability to rush the passer. It would behoove the team to get an asset for him instead of losing him for nothing by releasing him outright.
Huff Is Set to Get Paid by the Jets or Another NFL Team in 2024
Huff, 25, is in the middle of a career year in 2023.
He has already set new career highs in every major category: sacks (seven), quarterback hits (16), total tackles (23), and tackles for loss (seven). That is impressive on the surface, but even more so is the fact that he still has four more games left in the season to improve upon those totals.
Rosenblatt said Huff has played his way into “huge money” this offseason.
“He could garner as much as $15 million a year, and might even try for more,” Rosenblatt explained.
That $15 million annual salary would place him No. 14 among the highest-paid pass rushers in the NFL, per Over The Cap. Although Rosenblatt argued he could command even more money than that whether from the Jets or another NFL team on the open market.
Former NFL general manager Randy Mueller even argued back in late October that he could see Huff getting, “$22 or $23 million” per season on a new deal. Those figures would place him inside the top 10 at his position if it got that high.
That kind of funny money would force the Jets to get creative to pay that tab. Cimini said right now the Jets project to have “around $17 million” in cap room in 2024.
“Which is not nearly enough to do what they want to do. So they are going to have to make some cuts,” Cimini bluntly said on “The Flight Deck Podcast.”
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