Aaron Rodgers Designated Post-June 1 Release, Will Cost Jets $49M in Salary Cap Space

The New York Jets will release Aaron Rodgers after 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday with a post-June 1 designation, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, absorbing a dead cap hit of $14 million in 2025 and $35 million in 2026.

As Schefter noted, the Jets will keep his $21 million cap hit on the books until June 1. Officially releasing him after that date will save them $7 million on the cap for this upcoming season, but the major dead cap charge will come in 2026.

That dead cap figure is massive, no doubt, but it actually would have been even worse down the line if the Jets kept Rodgers for another year.

As ESPN's Rich Cimini reported in early December, the Jets would have owed Rodgers a $35 million option bonus before the 2025 season if they kept him, leaving them on the hook for a massive $63 million dead cap charge in 2026.

As Cimini explained, "The reason for the increase is the option bonus, which would be pro-rated for cap purposes over the length of the contract [the void years that run through 2029] and then accelerate into 2026 upon his departure. Once again, they could use the June 1 designation, but then you're talking about spreading money into 2027—$21 million in 2026 and $42 million in 2027."

So ultimately, the Jets chose to bite the bullet in the next two seasons, with the major hit coming next year, rather than taking on an astronomical dead cap charge in 2026 (and potentially 2027).

That also allows the Jets to do something of a reset after last season's calamitous 5-12 mark, moving on from players like Rodgers and Davante Adams and instead building around new quarterback Justin Fields and young stars like Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner.

That the Rodgers' era in New York ended with a pair of losing seasons and a massive dead cap charge is regrettable. Hanging on for another year made even less sense, however.