Updating the Jets' current salary cap position

Let's once again attempt to bring the Jets' cap position up to date as much as we can at this time.

The NFLPA has released their latest set of official numbers. However, these don't take into account all of the deals announced so far. According to these numbers Jets have 85 players under contract and $14.2 million of cap space.

The Jets actually have 90 players that they have either signed or agreed to terms with, not including Trumaine Johnson whose contract remains on the books for three more weeks because he was released with a June 1st designation. On top of this, the Jets have four players on the long-term PUP list who don't count against the roster limit but do have cap charges which are affecting the cap.

OverTheCap.com has the Jets' current cap space figure at $15.5 million. That takes into account 88 of the 90 deals. The only two not included are for Arthur Maulet and Frank Gore.

Our suspicion is that the NFLPA's figures do take into account Maulet and Gore's numbers, along with the four players listed as on Reserve/PUP. However, we suspect they do not take into account any of the nine undrafted rookies at this stage.

That being the case, the difference between the two can mostly be accounted for in Gore's contract, which we anticipate would fall somewhere around $2 million. That would reconcile to the difference between the two figures.

The two contracts that have been added to OTC's site since our last update were that of David Fales and Jordan Jenkins.

Fales received a minimum salary benefit deal for $910K with $100K guaranteed. It qualifies for the cap reduction so the cap hit is just $750K.

Jenkins, whose deal was reported as $5 million, actually signed a $3.25 million deal worth up to $4 million. $500K of that is in per-game roster bonuses with $250K in other bonuses that are treated as likely to be earned. The rest of the $3.25 million, $1.75 million of which was paid as a signing bonus, is guaranteed and the 2020 cap hit comes in at just under $4 million.

In terms of the undrafted free agents, once their deals are finalized, this isn't going to affect the team's cap space. Of the three, the only ones to receive a signing bonus per OTC were Jared Hilbers ($12K), Lamar Jackson ($7.5K) and Bryce Huff ($15K) so none of the deals will hit the top 51. It was previously reported that Hilbers got $62K in guarantees, so presumably he has $50K of his base salary guaranteed. That may apply to the others, too.

Remember, the Jets will obtain another $11 million in cap space once Johnson's June cut is processed, so they actually have about $25 million with which to pay their rookies and give themselves a buffer for the regular season. This means there is some excess spending capacity for last minute signings or camp/deadline trade deals.

One Jets beat writer wrote last week that the Jets were in cap hell and might need to release veteran players if they were keen to make any signings, but he didn't account for Johnson's $11 million nor did he adjust for the top-51 rule so that was way off base. Even if it got tight, the Jets have plenty of flexibility to create cap room via the salary-to-bonus route.

One final note is that despite having announced and processed his new contract, James Burgess is still not on the team's official roster page, presumably due to an oversight.