The New York Jets are preparing for the 2024 season, but you always have to be thinking 10 steps ahead.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report named the top landing spots for Dak Prescott if he shakes free from the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. One of those top teams named was the Jets who have an unknown future with 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers has openly said he plans on playing beyond 2024, but you never know what can happen during a football season.
“The reality is, though, that we don’t know how Rodgers will perform in 2024 or if the Jets will even want him back after the season concludes. Rodgers might return to Pro Bowl form, but he’s coming off a torn Achilles and will turn 41 in December. If things don’t pan out with Rodgers this season, there’s a non-zero chance that he, head coach Robert Saleh, and general manager Joe Douglas are all gone in 2025. A new regime would then want its own signal-caller, and Prescott would probably be at the top of the wish list,” Knox explained in an article posted on Thursday, September 5.
Knox provided the pitch for the Jets pointing to its talented defense, young building blocks, and Prescott’s ability to plug and play in New York to provide “long-term quarterback stability.”
Prescott Has a Chance to Make History
If the Jets needed a quarterback in 2025 because Rodgers retired and moved on, they would be an attractive place for any passer based on all the things Knox said.
However, the most important piece to the puzzle is having enough cap space to get in the race. Prescott has historic leverage heading into next offseason and he is going to want to cash in on it.
Prescott is entering the final year of his $160 million contract in 2024. Prescott will inevitably become the highest-paid quarterback in football, but the question is by how much?
The current highest-paid QB in football is making $55 million per year.
Ted Nguyen of The Athletic said if Prescott re-signs with the Cowboys before next year his annual salary would be around “$60 million per year.”
However, if he reaches the open market next offseason that total could increase to as high as “$63 million to $65 million per year.”
Prescott would arguably be one of the most accomplished football players, in his prime, at the game’s most important position to reach unrestricted free agency in history.
The unprecedented circumstances combined with the scarcity of good quarterbacks would create a historic bidding war between teams.
The good news for the Jets is they have “$92.2 million in cap space available next offseason,” per Knox.
Jets Have to Be All in on 2024, Figure out 2025 Later
The green and white, with all due respect, don’t give a flying hoot what happens next offseason.
Former NFL general manager Randy Mueller told me earlier this offseason that this Jets team is the most “all in” he has seen in over 40 years. The Jets care about right now and they will figure out the rest later.
That is the right mentality for a team entering a season with a 40-year-old starting quarterback. However, after swinging as hard as they can, regardless of what happens this season, the Jets will have a chance to make more headlines next year.
Gang Green is a quarterback away from winning a Super Bowl. Perhaps Rodgers will deliver that this season. If he doesn’t, the Jets should have options next offseason which is always a good place to be.
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