As expected, C.J. Mosley‘s time with the Jets has come to an end. The Pro Bowl linebacker has been released, per a team announcement.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini notes this move comes with a post-June 1 designation. As a result, the cap hit which remained for 2025 (the final year of Mosley’s deal) will be spread out across two years.
The Jets will see $4M in cap savings this year while incurring a dead money charge of $8.78M. The remaining $7.65M of dead money will hit the cap next year.
Mosley, who was selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2014 draft, earned Pro Bowl acclaim in four of his five seasons in Baltimore, setting himself up for a lucrative payday after he played out the fifth-year option of his rookie deal in 2018.
He signed a five-year, $85M contract with the Jets in March 2019, which shattered the then-record for inside linebackers and which felt like an overpay at the time, even when taking his Pro Bowl accolades into account.
Gang Green felt the financial burden of Mosley’s deal even more acutely when the Alabama product played in just two games of the 2019 season due to injury and exercised his COVID opt-out for 2020. However, he settled in nicely over the following three seasons, averaging nearly 160 tackles per year and earning another Pro Bowl nod in 2022. Last season, the advanced metrics finally placed him among the ranks of the game’s elite middle linebackers, as Pro Football Focus assigned him an 82.9 overall grade that was good for the sixth-highest mark out of 82 qualified players.
Last offseason, Mosley — who was originally slated to be a free agent after the current campaign — agreed to a brief extension that keeps him under club control through 2025. By signing that deal, Mosley agreed to a pay cut in exchange for additional guarantees, though just over half of his $8.25M salary for 2025 is guaranteed.
The guarantees proved effective for Mosley when his 2025 season unceremoniously ended in in Week 7 after only three starts in four appearances. He intended to make a comeback later in the season, as he dealt with a herniated disc, but he didn’t end up suiting up again for New York.
Mosley joins a free agent class that has seen nearly all of the most-talented linebacker options already sign new deals. At 32, he’s definitely the oldest free agent linebacker option, but if he can get healthy, he could be a steal this late in free agency. He’ll be available with remaining free agents like Isaiah Simmons, De’Vondre Campbell, Kyzir White, E.J. Speed, Eric Kendricks and others.
The Jets, on the other hand, secured their future at the position by re-signing the man who filled in admirably for Mosley this past year. New York signed Jamien Sherwood to a three-year, $45M deal just prior to the start of free agency this past weekend.
