Jets predicted to make $22 million decision on Justin Fields this offseason

The New York Jets' starting quarterback in 2026 could be almost anyone. Whether it be a free agent signing, trade acquistion or draft pick, there's almost no wrong answer.

Except for one. Justin Fields, just one year after signing a two-year, $40 million contract with New York in the 2025 offseason, is expected to part ways with the Jets after a disastrous one-year experiment.

In nine starts this year, the former Ohio State Buckeye completed 62.7% of his passes for 1,259 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception. While the stats are okay on paper, Fields threw for almost 140 passing yards per game, one of the lowest outputs on a weekly basis in team history.

The question isn't if the Jets will part ways with Fields, but how. They could do their best to try and find a trade partner, but with his value as low as it is, there likely isn't a single team that wants to take on his contract. Will New York release him outright or designate him a post-June 1 cut?

Jets predicted to take their Justin Fields medicine now, as opposed to waiting until June 1

The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt believes the Jets won't designate Fields as a post-June 1 cut; instead, taking the brunt of his $22 million dead cap hit this offseason instead of spreading it out over the next two years.

Rosenblatt notes that the Jets, armed with roughly $70-$80 million in cap space this offseason, will opt to take their medicine this year, clearing their books and creating ample flexibility next offseason.

Adding in Fields' dead money would give the Jets around $57.7 million to work with this offseason, per Over the Cap, still giving them the sixth most cap space in the league heading into free agency. With players like Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker expected to eat into that, there's still some room for Darren Mougey to play with.

It's the opposite of what they did with Aaron Rodgers, spreading his dead money out over 2025 and 2026. As it stands now, the Jets have the most dead cap in the league at $91.2 million. Adding Fields to that would balloon the number to $113.2 million, the most ever for any team.

According to ESPN, the team to carry the largest amount of dead money was the 2022 Chicago Bears, who had a whopping $91.8 million sinking a hole in their cap sheet. The Jets, before cutting Fields, would be just $600k below that.

If the Jets do what Rosenblatt is predicting, they will, they'll carry the honor of having the most dead money in league history by a wide margin, and in a year where Aaron Glenn has to prove he's the right coach to turn the team around, it sounds like it would make putting a winning product on the field that much harder in 2026.