Aaron Rodgers will be a question mark for weeks, possibly months, throughout the Jets' offseason.
Does Rodgers want to keep playing? Do the Jets want Rodgers back? If the Jets don't want Rodgers, will he end up going to another team in his 21st season?
We won't have any answers until we know who the new general manager and head coach are and Rodgers announces his decision.
Rodgers said he doesn't want to drag this out too long and will make a decision before free agency begins in March.
Jets owner Woody Johnson told the Post on Sunday that the new general manager and coach will decide Rodgers' future with the team.
One aspect of that decision is Rodgers' contract. Rodgers renegotiated his contract and accepted a pay cut when he joined the Jets in 2023. Although Rodgers has no more guaranteed money owed to him in his contract, this decision still impacts the salary cap.
Below is a breakdown of the Jets' over-the-cap decisions regarding Rodgers and his contract.
cut aaron rodgers
If the Jets decide to waive him this year, he will have $49 million in dead money in 2025. If the Jets select him after June 1, they could split it between 2025 and 2026. In that case, dead money would be $21 million in 2025 and $28 million in 2026.
That will definitely be a philosophical decision the new GM will have to make. They might want to take a pill in 2025 and eat the entire $49 million dead money bill. This feels like a huge number, but the Broncos took a $53 million dead money charge this season by cutting Russell Wilson. It's possible.
keep aaron rodgers
If the Jets decide to bring Rodgers back, his salary cap charge would be $23.5 million. But they will pay him $37.5 million in cash between a $35 million bonus and a base salary of $2.5 million. The $35 million bonus will be prorated over five years. Rodgers has a four-year gap in his contract from 2026-29 for salary cap purposes.
If he plays for the Jets in 2025 and the team waives him in 2026, his 2026 dead money bill would be $63 million due to the amount of his prorated bonus. That means if he plays this year, the Jets would receive an $86.5 million cap charge in 2025-2026.
If he agrees to renegotiate his $20 million base salary for that year, the Jets could designate him for release after June 1, 2026. Dead money claims could reach $21 million in 2026 and $42 million in 2027.
Another option for Rodgers if he returns is to ask for a further pay cut, which Rodgers recently said he would accept. Those numbers could go down if he decides to continue playing.
