New York Jets to cut Aaron Rodgers, suffer cap hit of $49 million

The New York Jets are releasing Aaron Rodgers once the 2025 NFL league year officially begins on Wednesday afternoon. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Jets will take on the $49 million in dead money by cutting Rodgers.

“He’s being designated as a post-June 1 cut, meaning they’ll carry his $21M cap hit until June 1, when it drops to $14M—saving $7M. But they then will absorb a $35M dead cap hit in 2026,” Schefter wrote on X/Twitter.

The move to release Rodgers is not a big surprise, considering the Jets and Rodgers agreed to part ways in February. Jets general manager Darren Mougey addressed the Rodgers situation while speaking to reporters at the Combine.

“I just want to address the Aaron Rodgers stuff, get ahead of that,” Mougey said. “I’m not going to discuss any private discussions that I had with Aaron throughout this process, and really with any private discussion I had with any player for that matter. I’m not here to confirm or deny any rumors that happened during that process. 

Aaron Rodgers did not have a memorable run with the New York Jets

“I will say this, there was never an ultimatum or rules of engagement for Aaron to potentially join the Jets again. That never happened. (Head coach Aaron Glenn) and I had a lot of dialogue, a lot of conversations, a lot of good thoughts, and just felt at the end of the day, it was the best thing for the Jets moving forward, just going a different direction at the quarterback position. So, lot of respect for Aaron Rodgers as a player and person, first-ballot Hall of Famer. (I) wish him nothing but the best. But that was a decision we made, and look forward to kind of moving past that and into this next process here with free agency in the draft.”

Rodgers, who turned 41 in December, spent just two seasons with the Jets after spending 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. In 2023, Rodgers appeared in only the season opener, as he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the first quarter.

This past season, Rodgers played in all 17 games and threw for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 90.5 passer rating. While those numbers are solid, Rodgers and the Jets struggled to find wins, as they finished the year with a 5-12 record.

Now the question is, which team will Rodgers play for in 2025? It’s been reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants are in the running to sign the four-time NFL MVP.