After another bitterly disappointing season in 2024, the New York Jets are starting from scratch, bringing in a new GM in Darren Mougey and a new head coach in former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. And the new braintrust has wasted very little time remaking the franchise in their image, releasing star wideout Davante Adams on Tuesday less than a month after making clear they intended to move on — via trade or otherwise — from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Letting Adams walk was more or less a no-brainer; teams around the league had very little reason to trade for him on his current contract, and New York will save some $30 million in cap space by moving on now. After years of mismanagement and dysfunction, the Jets need to rebuild one step at a time, and they should take every opportunity to get younger and more flexible as Glenn and Mougey go about identifying which players might be part of the team's next competitive window.
All of which is why the team can't stop cleaning house now. Rodgers and Adams were the two biggest names, but they're hardly the only ones New York should show the door this offseason.
4. WR Allen Lazard
This one is easy enough — if Rodgers isn't back in New York next year, then there's no way Lazard will be, considering that the quarterback is the only reason he was brought to the Jets in the first place. That decision went about as badly as expected: Lazard was a disaster in 2023, with then-coach Robert Saleh publicly counting down the days until the team could get out from his contract, and he might've been even worse during a 2024 season in which he led all qualified receivers in drop rate.
New York could also save around $6.6 million in cap space by cutting bait with Lazard, making this just about the easiest decision in the history of decisions. Even though the Jets don't have much of any proven WR talent around Garrett Wilson, there's no reason to keep giving Lazard snaps (and paying him) in 2025.
3. EDGE Haason Reddick
Reddick held out for the first seven weeks of the 2024 season in search of a new contract, and when he finally did take the field, he looked like a shell of himself, becoming the only qualified edge rusher in the league to fail to record at least one full sack. Maybe Reddick will get his head on straight somewhere else once he finally gets the payday he so desperately wants, but the Jets can't make that their problem for a second year in a row. At this point, there are just too many bad vibes, and Reddick doesn't seem to be a great fit for the culture Glenn wants to establish with his new defense.
2. LB CJ Mosley
You do have to feel for Mosley, who dug deep and regained his All-Pro form after his Jets tenure had gotten off to a rocky start. The linebacker was a consummate pro despite all the chaos around him, becoming a vocal leader on and off the field. Unfortunately, he just couldn't stay healthy, playing just four games in 2024 as Jamien Sherwood stole his starting spot out from under him.
Moving on from Mosley would be costly, but as the Jets hit the reset button, his age and injury history make him an obvious candidate for release. He won't be around to see the next competitive Jets team, and New York is better off cutting bait now (they can save $4 million in 2025 and over $3 million in 2026 by designating him a post-June 1 release) rather than dragging this out and taking opportunities from younger players.
1. LT Tyron Smith
Smith was the ultimate win-now gamble, a roll of the dice on a Hall of Fame talent with lengthy injury history in hopes that he could keep Rodgers' blind side clean for 16 games. That injury history reared its head once again this past season, as Smith missed seven games, and a rebuilding team like New York simply has no reason to re-sign a 34-year-old tackle on the back nine of his career.
When healthy, Smith is still a very solid left tackle. But the Jets are no longer desperate to find veteran talent; Glenn has time to build this thing the right way, and the team already has its hopeful left tackle of the future on the roster in 2024 draft pick Olu Fashanu.