In this episode, I discuss why the Jets could get more value from earlier picks than the ones later in the second round.

They could add a veteran backup before the draft, according to Mougey. Will Levis, a 2023 second-round pick, could be the odd man out. He didn't play last season due to shoulder surgery, but he's said to be healthy.

Let’s dive into what a contract should look like if Gang Green were to trade for Levis, and why they shouldn’t settle for one season.

• How the NFL derives the salary cap number, and how each team gets its own number

• What the salary cap truly is

• Why the salary cap isn’t fake

Many fans misunderstand void years on NFL contracts. They see the dead money at the end of the tunnel, and immediately hate them.

There’s a big problem with this. They’re wrong in how they oversimplify what they see and how things tend to turn out with bad teams.

Let’s dive into the process of void years to help you understand why they’re important and good for all.

• Roster Spots filled

• Who’s a cut candidate

• Cap space remaining come Week 1

The New York Jets need to add more to the wide receiver room, and that’s no secret this offseason. The only question is how they do it.

When you look at the long-term solutions for WR2 in the current free agent market, a lot is left to be desired. So, the Jets will likely draft one and trade for one.

The Denver Broncos recently acquired wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins. So, that left the possibility open for a trade, and ESPN’s Benjamin Solak posted this on X.

Let’s dive into the prospect of landing Troy Franklin from the Broncos and why it makes complete sense for the Jets specifically.

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The Aaron Rodgers saga is almost over. Once the 2026 season ends, the ordeal can be completely behind us.

As Adam Schefter first reported, the Jets have traded Justin Fields to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2027 sixth-round pick.

It’s a little shocking that the Jets were able to get a trade done and didn’t have to release him, but taking on $7 million of the $10 million of his guarantee helped facilitate the deal.

The Jets will take on $19 million in dead cap in 2026 for the trade.

Now let’s take a look at the total bill, through the end of the 2026 season, for the New York Jets.

Aaron Rodgers $75,050,000
Justin Fields $27,000,000
Allen Lazard $22,000,000
Davante Adams $11,590,000
Geno Smith $3,300,000

That totals $138,940,000.

These are the players that were acquired by the Jets as a direct result of the Rodgers trade, or the idea of its potential. Lazard’s trade probably bolstered the desire for Rodgers to be traded to the Jets.

The Jets, outside of the first-round pick swap, also traded 2023 second-round and sixth-round picks and a 2024 second-round pick for Rodgers, and they traded a 2025 third-round pick for Davante Adams.

As a result of moving on from Rodgers, Fields, Lazard, and Adams, the Jets also lost $84,811,726 in cap space in the last two seasons.

All in all, it was one of the worst trades in Jets history.

New contract information

The contracts of two recently acquired players have become available. Let’s take a look at their impacts on 2026 and beyond.

Minkah Fitzpatrick

Total Value: 3 years, $40 million, $20.5 million guaranteed.

Base salaries: $5.5 million (2026), $13 million (2027), $12.5 million
Signing Bonus: $7.5 million
Per-Game Roster Bonus: $500k annually

Explanation of 2026 cap charge

In 2026, Fitzpatrick will cost $7,411,765 against the salary cap. That consists of his base salary, 1/5 of his signing bonus (two void years), and $411,765 of his $500k per-game roster bonus.

The Jets are only responsible for 14/17 of his roster bonus in 2026, because he was inactive for three games in 2025. If he’s active for more than 14 games in 2026, there will be a cap adjustment for each additional game not charged in 2027. For anything under 14 games, they receive a credit.

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Kingsley Enagbare

Total Value: 1 year, $9 million, $8.49 million guaranteed

2026 Base salary: $3.49 million
Signing Bonus: $5 million
Per-Game Roster Bonus: $510k

Explanation of 2026 cap charge

The Jets are responsible for most of the money in 2026. They added four void years to the contract to take on $4 million in dead cap in 2027. Since Enagbare was active for the entire season in 2026. That means the Jets are responsible for all of the per-game roster bonus. However, they will receive a credit for any games he’s inactive.

While Enagbare does have a deadcap charge of $4 million in 2027, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. He’s entering his age-26 season, and still has room to grow. The Jets don’t have to let the contract void. The void years can become real years with an extension, if they choose to do that.

2026 Week 1 Cap Projection

Here’s a look at where I think the team will stand with the initial 53-man roster. In this projection, there are still three roster spots open.

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Breece Hall and the Jets are currently not negotiating a new contract, as the Jets wanted to focus on free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft.

Here’s what Connor J. Hughes of SNY had to say:

The Jets & Breece Hall are not currently negotiating a contract. The team wants to get through free agency & the NFL Draft, then pick things back up with Hall’s agent. Both sides want to get a deal done. The Jets do not expect, at the moment, a holdout from Hall. They will work toward a deal, but if they cannot reach one, they believe he will play on the tag.

A deal should get done, and in the video above, I share a contract I believe would get the job done.

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So, let’s dive into a future look at where the Jets could stand based on the roster now and future roster decisions.

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The New York Jets have (unofficially) signed three players they expect to have big roles for the team in 2026.

Joseph Ossai got three years, $34.5 million ($36 million max value) with $22.49 million fully guaranteed at signing. Demario Davis got two years, $22 million with $15 million fully guaranteed at signing, and David Onyemata got one year, $10.5 million with $9.65 million fully guaranteed at signing.

We dive into the breakdown of all three contracts here.

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Don’t oversimplify how you decipher NFL contract value. There’s a lot more to the contract that you need to know to decipher value.

I discussed various aspects of an NFL contract in the episode to help you understand the true value of contracts as we begin the contract negotiation season of the NFL. This episode will also be useful when teams discuss extensions during the 2026 NFL regular season.

The Raiders are releasing Geno Smith, and he’s a top target for the Jets. If the Jets do sign him, it must be a two-year contract, not just a one-year contract, because that gives them a true bridge QB in their current situation.

Let’s dive into the contract and the money the Jets should offer Smith for the 2026 and/or 2027 seasons.

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The Arizona Cardinals will be releasing Kyler Murray to start the league year, and despite the red flags, he should be at the top of the wish list (alongside Malik Willis at 1A/B). The feeling might not be mutual in terms of wanting to play for Gang Green, but the Jets should offer him a two-year deal with a sweetener, and we will dive into it in the video above.

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I go over why the Jets did it in my latest video.

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The Jets and Breece Hall are currently in talks for a contract extension, and they should do whatever it takes to keep him.

According to Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic, “talks are ongoing”. Also, the Jets are expected to use the transition tag to keep Hall a Jet, and that would allow the Jets to match any offer sheet for Hall. Finally, Rosenblatt wrote,

The Jets would like to sign Hall to a multi-year deal and league sources believe that number would come in somewhere between the transition and franchise values on a per-year basis.

Since it’s between the transition tag and the franchise tag, I used $12.5 million per year as the AAV for the paper value of the contract.

Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of the deal I think they should propose.

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First off, it’s three years, $37.5 million in paper value.

Second, the cash value for 2026 is the transition tag amount ($11,323,000). He also gets an additional $3.677 million in guarantees in 2027 to bring the total guarantee at signing to $15 million.

With this deal, the Jets would effectively have a $10 million team option for 2027, but, unless something goes completely off the rails in 2026, they’d exercise it, bringing the total guarantees through 2027 up to $25 million.

The final max value of $12.5 million is guaranteed on the fifth day of 2028, when a $2 million roster bonus is due.

Here’s how that would look on paper.

Here’s how this contract would stack up in terms of rankings among running backs:

Total Compensation: 4th
AAV: 5th
Total Guarantees: T-5th
Full Guarantees: 11th

This contract would provide good value in comparison to the running backs around the NFL, and it’s actually a win-win for both sides.

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As we embark on a new season, let’s dive into the parts of an NFL contract and their impacts on a cap charge during the 2026-27 NFL calendar year.

First and foremost, let’s talk about what a cap charge is. A cap charge is what a particular team is being charged for a particular player based on the component of his contract. Every dollar a team spends on a player will count eventually as part of a cap charge, but not necessarily in the year spent.

Paragraph 5 Salary

In a standard NFL contract, the base salary, or the salary the players are paid specifically for the games, is located in the fifth paragraph. This salary counts in full for the team for the season (unless the player is traded or cut).

Prorated Bonus

There are two different prorated bonuses: signing and option. These bonuses are lump sum payments to a player that are prorated for the life of the contract for a maximum of five seasons. So, a five-year contract that has a prorated bonus of $25 million has it count for $5 million per season. If a player is cut or traded, the remaining proration is accelerated based on when the transaction takes place.

Roster/Workout Bonus

These are lump sum payments for being on the roster on a certain date or participating in a certain percentage of the offseason program. These count in full in the season in which they are scheduled to be earned. If a player is cut or traded before earning it, there’s no penalty to the team.

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Per-Game Roster Bonus

A per-game roster bonus is a bonus added to a game check for being on the active roster for a game during the regular season. For instance, if a player has a per-game roster bonus of $1 million, if he’s active for all 17 games, he will receive an addition $1 million of salary for the season.

Incentives

These are additional pay for reaching certain individual and team milestones.

Likely/Not Likely to be Earned

This is another point where the cap isn’t necessarily about money earned in that particular season. Per-game roster bonuses and incentives are either likely to be earned or not likely to be earned.

If they were earned the season prior, they are deemed likely to be earned, and if not, they are deemed not likely to be earned.

LTBE incentives either count in full on a particular season or don’t count at all. Per-game roster bonuses can partially count against the cap.

Looking at the $1 million example from before:
Let’s say a player was active for 15 games the prior season and has that per-game roster bonus. The $1 million would not completely count against the cap. 15 games would be LTBE, and two games would be NLTBE. So, the 15 LTBE games would count against the cap that season, and two would not.

If the player is active in more or fewer than 15 games, any additional spending would be accounted for in an adjustment to the following season’s cap. Fewer than 15 games would result in a credit, while more would lead to losing cap space.

In the end, every dollar spent on a player counts against the cap at some point, and all cap dollars that are accounted for that aren’t spent do get debited back to the cap space. The NFL salary cap is just an accounting tool for a particular season. It’s not the cash spent in a particular season.

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We will dive into the ins and outs of the contract and why it’s a good deal for the Jets and Malik Willis, despite many people probably thinking it’s not.