New York Jets Reportedly Moving Toward Salary Cap Stability & More AFC East News

The New York Jets are in dire salary cap straits, but there are a lot of moves the team can make to reach some stability.

Rich Cimini of ESPN New York reports on some rumored transactions that could cut a lot of dead weight on the Jets cap:

"

As soon as the waiver period opens in February, the Jets will clear $30.7 million off their salary cap in less time than it takes to hail a cab in New York. They will release LB Calvin Pace ($8.56 million savings), LB Bart Scott ($7.15 million), OT Jason Smith ($12 million) and S Eric Smith ($3 million). Those moves will result in only $4.5 million in dead money. The problem—and it's a big problem—is that they will have only 10 starters under contract and not much cap room.

"

By the rough figures outlined by Cimini, this would save the Jets $26.21 million off the salary cap for next season.

Combine the 10 starters under contract with 16 players slated to become free agents, though, and that money could be gone quickly.

With all that being said, it's important to note that none of these moves will be made until the next general manager is in place, and the fact that the GM is not yet in place lends to speculation on the validity of the report—how can we know what moves they'll make until we know who will make the moves?

We'll just have to wait and see.

Here's some more news from around the AFC East.

New York Jets

Conor Orr of the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger writes that Tom Gamble is still the front-runner for the Jets general manager opening, but that the team will begin to look elsewhere as well.

T.J. Rosenthal of TurnOnTheJets.com says that uncertainty could breed paranoia for Rex Ryan in regards to the long-term stability of his job with the Jets.

Buffalo Bills

Bleacher Report featured columnist Chris Trapasso lists the eight decisions Doug Marrone must make as new head coach of the Bills.

Mark Gaughan and Tim Graham of The Buffalo News team up to explain how Marrone instilled a sense of discipline at Syracuse.

Miami Dolphins

B/R Dolphins featured columnist Thomas Galicia lists the five free agents the Dolphins must target this offseason.

Ben Volin of The Palm Beach Post writes that despite impressive seasons from the other rookie quarterbacks, the Dolphins are pleased with Ryan Tannehill.

New England Patriots

B/R Patriots featured columnist Mike Dussault explains why and how the Patriots must improve to beat the Texans in the rematch.

Greg Bedard of The Boston Globe breaks down the game into why it will and won't be different from the last meeting.

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston set up a one-stop shop to recap all the events from New England's win over the Texans and the analysis that ensued.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates. Unless specified otherwise, all quotes are obtained firsthand or via team press releases.