The Jets are working on clearing some salary cap space in hopes of getting a deal done with free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The team approached veteran tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson last week while he was working out at the team’s facility and told him they may need his help in order to get Fitzpatrick signed, according to a source. This move has been anticipated for months.
The Jets currently have just over $500,000 in salary cap space. They have been at an impasse with Fitzpatrick for more a month over a new contract, with Fitzpatrick hoping for a payday in the neighborhood of $16 million a year and the Jets offering $7 million a year.
Ferguson’s salary cap figure for 2016 is $14.1 million. It was unclear how much of a pay cut the Jets would want him to take, but they are going to need to clear significant cap space to get a deal done with Fitzpatrick. Ferguson is probably just one of several moves they would have to make to create cap space for Fitzpatrick and to sign their draft picks.
Ferguson, 32, could decline the Jets’ request to take a pay cut, and the team could cut him, but sources indicated he is open to a reasonable cut in pay.
The Jets drafted Ferguson with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, and he has been a core member of the team since. He has missed just one snap in his entire career and that was because the team was running a trick formation.
While Ferguson’s durability has been amazing, his play has slipped in recent years. He went to three straight Pro Bowls between 2009 and 2011, but is no longer the same player.
“Right now, D’Brickashaw is under contract and I would say our thought is that he would be [on the roster],” Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan said last month. “But like everything else with all players, and I said this early on with free agency this year, it’s kind of a fluid free agency for us. We’re trying to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization — both short- and long-term — so right now I would say he would be on our roster going forward, but we’ll see how this thing unfolds.”
The Jets plan to sign KR/PR Jeremy Ross, according to a source. Ross is a five-year veteran who has played for the Colts, Packers, Lions, Raiders and Ravens.