3 Jets most likely to have their contracts restructured this spring

1. C.J. Mosley, LB

There aren't many players who have proven to be more valuable to the Jets than Mosley, who has been their leader on defense since he signed with the team prior to 2019. The Jets didn't get a ton of early bang for their buck from Mosley, who missed most of 2019 due to injury and opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns, but he has been one of the best linebackers in football since he returned in 2021.

2024 is the final guaranteed year of Mosley's contract and he is set to earn a base salary of $17 million, pushing his salary cap hit to almost $21.5 million when his bonuses kick in. Douglas curiously opted not to renegotiate Mosley's deal last season, instead reworking other deals that backfired on him, but there are few ways to efficiently generate more cap space for the Jets than by reworking Mosley's contract.

That cap space could come with a contract extension for Mosley, who is set to become a free agent after the season when the final two years of his original contract automatically void. Mosley is 31 years old so there is some significant decline risk but he is still an important piece to the current core, so cutting him makes little sense.

A short-term extension would give Mosley some job security and additional bonus money while allowing the Jets to reduce his current cap hit significantly for 2024. The cap will become an issue down the line with Mosley, whose dead cap hits will stick with the Jets for years after he departs, but in a win-now mode Douglas has little choice but to do whatever is necessary to put the pieces together to build a winner right now.