All it took was releasing Le’Veon Bell for the Jets to finally lead the NFL in something.
New York surprisingly cut the former All-Pro running back on Tuesday after failing to find a trade partner willing to take on his salary. The Jets will still have to carry a $4 million dead money salary, but New York now leads the league in salary cap space for the 2021 offseason with Bell’s future earnings off the books.
“With this move, the Jets stand to clear room in 2020 that can roll over into 2021 in the amount of whatever Bell signs for elsewhere. Bell has offset language on the $6 million in remaining base salary for 2020, so whatever he earns elsewhere will be deducted from that amount for the Jets,” OverTheCap.com’s Brad Spielberger said.
Bell’s release leaves the Jets with just 35 players under contract for 2021. If the NFL’s salary cap drops to $175 million in 2021, New York will have an estimated $81 million to work with in free agency, according to Spotrac.
“Bell’s 2021 base salary of $8 million was guaranteed for injury, which could have potentially played a role here in cutting him before anything happened on the field,” Spielberger said. “There will be $4 million in dead money from Bell’s signing bonus. In total, his 2021 cap hit will be roughly $11.5 million less than it would have been had Bell remained on the roster.”
Joe Douglas already had more than enough money to reshape New York’s roster in free agency prior to Bell’s release. Now, he has more to spend than any other general manager in the league entering the 2021 offseason. It’s going to take a lot more than one strong free agent class to get things turned around at One Jets Drive, but at least Douglas can swing for the fences once March rolls around.