It's a new world for New York Jets fans, even if the end result looks a little too familiar. No, the new-look Jets, led by the tandem of first-year head coach Todd Bowles and GM Mike Maccagnan, did not make the postseason in 2015, though they came excruciatingly close, but the strides the team made are not to be ignored. There were meaningful gains made in plenty of areas on the Jets roster and another season under Bowles with Maccagnan shopping for groceries should, presumably, yield even better results. But with new leadership also comes change and it seems like there's plenty of old-guard who may not last through a transition that in total is likely to take at least two or three seasons and offseasons.
Already, there's been talk that Taiwan Jones is viewed as the heir apparent to David Harris at inside linebacker. And now, on the other side of the ball, it seems Brent Qvale is on the way up while longtime tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson may be on the way down, if not necessarily on the way out as of yet.
According to Tony Pauline of Draft Insider, Qvale, a third-year player who made the team last year after spending 2014 on the practice squad, is a guy the Jets "really like." As Pauline points out, Qvale's modest contract - his cap hit for the next two seasons is $525,000 and $615,000 - could allow the Jets some cap flexibility in the near future, especially when a player like D'Brickashaw Ferguson is set to eat up so much of the cap the next two seasons (that's assuming Qvale could play well and earn and keep a starting gig).
Ferguson, despite his mammoth contract - he's currently slated to count $14.1 million and $14.3 million against the cap in 2016 and 2017 - has consistently played the good soldier for the Jets, restructuring his deal on two separate occasions and kicking the money can down the road a bit so that the Jets could create immediate cap space.
Ferguson has also started every game for the Jets since 2006, but his advancing age and increasing cap hit, paired with the decreasing value of the dead cap penalty the team would incur were they to cut ties - $4.23 million in 2016, $1.28 million in 2017 - may be enough incentive to convince him to restructure his deal.
It's something Pauline indicates the team is going to try and get done. With the franchise looking, presently, before cuts, at about $14.1 million in cap space, getting Ferguson's cap number down could go a long way toward shoring up other areas of the roster and re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick.
