Update:
Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Jets have in fact decided to release LB Bart Scott.
It was a little surprising that Scott wasn’t among the otherย players that were released given thatย they could save an additionalย $8 million by releasing him.
Ian Rapoportย previouslyย tweeted that Scott’s agent was scheduled to meet with the Jets on Thursday, but that obviously will not happen.
This move brings the total cap space created by the Jets on Tuesday toย Jets $32.115 million, according to Adam Caplan.
Mike Florio writes that Scott could find interest from the Bills given that he has ties to their newย defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.
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The New York Jets have announced that they’ve releasedย OT Jason Smith, S Eric Smith,ย TE Josh Baker and LB Calvin Pace this afternoon.
Brian Costelloย tweets that these moves will clear close toย $24 million in cap space.
Jason Smith was taken by the Rams with theย second overall pick in 2009. He had aย $12 million roster bonus coming his wayย and the fact that he’s struggledย mightilyย to live up to his draft selection makes this seem like a fairly obvious move for the Jets.
Pace,ย 33, had a cap figure ofย $8.56 million this season and was no longer an impact player for the Jets’ defense. He’s been very durable in recent years, but there was no way they were going to be able to keep him at that price. He should find at least some interest on the open market, but it’s doubtful that he’ll secure anything better than a one-year contract.
Eric Smith, 29, was set to makeย $2.4 million for the 2013 season and carried a cap figure close to $3 million. Smith played onlyย 329 snaps last year as a part-time player in the Jets defense.
Baker, 26, had only $555,000 coming his way, so the decision to waive him probably had more to do with the fact that he suffered a tornย ACL during the preseason.
Despite all of these moves, the Jets still aren’t in great shape financially, but they will at least have a small amount of cap room to work with. ย It seems likely that more moves will be coming in the next few days.
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