We heard earlier this month that the Jets want slot receiver Jamison Crowder — who is entering the final year of his contract — to take a significant pay cut. Today, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports that New York wants to reduce Crowder’s 2021 salary by at least 50%.
The soon-to-be 28-year-old receiver is due to make a non-guaranteed $10MM this year, and the Jets want to pay him a maximum of $5MM instead. And it appears that Gang Green has plenty of leverage. At this point in the year, most teams don’t have a ton of money to spend, so it would be hard to imagine another club paying Crowder more than $5MM for the 2021 campaign. Plus, the Jets could clear over $10MM of cap space with a minimal dead money hit if they were to release Crowder, and New York reportedly feels comfortable with its receiving corps even without him in the picture.
According to Cimini, second-round rookie Elijah Moore — another slot receiver — was one of the best players on the field during OTAs, and fellow slot man Braxton Berrios also looked good. Of course, the Jets made a big-money free agent addition to the WR room in Corey Davis, and they also brought in Keelan Cole, so they’re content to play hardball with Crowder.
On the other hand, the team has plenty of cap space as is and will deploy rookie QB Zach Wilson under center. Even if there is some redundancy in the slot, it would be understandable if the Jets wanted to keep an established veteran like Crowder just in case Moore isn’t quite ready to shoulder the load. But since GM Joe Douglas doled out $80MM in guaranteed money in free agency, the club might prefer to save some cash, especially since it remains interested in free agent OT Morgan Moses (who recently visited with the Jets).
Cimini suggests that Crowder and the club could agree to a restructure, though such a maneuver wouldn’t preclude the Jets from trading Crowder if Moore continues to perform well in training camp and the preseason.
I would let the Jets release me instead of taking a 50% pay reduction
Agreed. 50% payout to be on another 500 team?
Depends on if he can get $5M from another team. If not, it would be solely an emotional move
Agree. Hard pill to swallow knowing the team has all the cap room in the world too. Even if he thinks he can get 5 million or slightly less with another team, at least he can pick a better situation to line himself up for a better payday in 2022 when the cap increases. Gotta be a better QB and offensive situation out there who would give Crowder a good role and some decent money.
I’d tell them to just cut me then too. I wouldn’t take a 50% pay cut, that’s for sure. If they believe in their WRs that much, there’s a good chance he’ll see a reduction in looks, too. Hold firm, make them release you, and look for the best situation to build value on a 1 year deal.
What happened to honoring a contract????
The NFL doesn’t believe in that, which is why I have no issues when players demand trades or holdout
Meh. Fully guaranteed contracts would assume the risk of injury, that current contracts do not. Players would not be seeing the kinds of contracts they get now, if teams were required to fully guarantee everything.
Overall, I believe players would earn less with fully guaranteed contracts.
When healthy, this guy is a reception monster. More than a few teams would risk it and pay him 5MM. There will be cuts coming and he’s a perfect fit for a team like the Lions.
Nothing builds up a team’s morale like asking players to take a 50% pay cut when you have the 3rd best cap allowance…lol.
He’s not a $10 million player, but the Jets knew that when they originally signed him – however they need to throw stupid money at players like Crowder just to get them to suit up for their joke of a team.
Simple restructure. Guarantee the $5M for this year and push the non-guaranteed $5M to next year. I don’t think he will get more than $5M elsewhere.
Welcome to the Patriots Mr. Crowder!