Jets will let Allen Lazard seek trade ... good luck with that

NFL free agency is less than two weeks away as the Jets continue to embrace a future without Aaron Rodgers.

They’ve already announced that the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback won’t be back. And they’ve already made it clear that they’re willing to trade his close friend receiver Davante Adams, who isn’t likely to return anything in a trade, despite his ability to still play at a high level, because it’s obvious the Jets will cut him if they can’t trade him.

So when ESPN reported Tuesday that the Jets were granting receiver Allen Lazard permission to seek a trade, it was just the latest sign that they’ll be moving on from one of Rodgers' hand-picked roster additions.

It was also borderline laughable. The 49ers just traded star receiver Deebo Samuel to the Commanders for a fifth-round pick. If Adams isn’t going to return the Jets anything on the trade market, what is Lazard going to return? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.

The laughable part of the ESPN report was that the Jets "are open to bringing" Lazard “back to the team.”

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It’s laughable because it didn’t mention the obvious: they’re open to bringing him back to the team ... if he takes a massive pay cut.

The Jets signed Lazard to a four-year, $44 million contract two years ago, right before they traded for Rodgers. He was the highest-paid receiver of that free agent class. And he never came close to achieving the expectations that came with that contract. In 26 games he had 60 catches for 841 yards and seven touchdowns, drawing the ire of fans for his frequent, ill-timed drops and his lack of public accountability in the aftermath of his mistakes.

Less than a year after Lazard signed that contract, then-coach Robert Saleh couldn’t hide his exasperation with him when he said after a November loss “he’s going to be here for the next year-and-a-half.” He was implying, with more than three year’s left on Lazard’s contract, that the Jets would cut him as soon as it made financial sense to do just that.

And now a year-and-a-half later, that moment has arrived.

If Lazard stays on the roster under his current deal he’ll earn $11 million and cost $13.2 million against their cap. That is never, ever going to happen since Lazard has zero guaranteed money remaining on his deal.

If they cut him, they’ll save $6.6 million and carry $6.5 million of dead cap into 2025, which is certainly what they’ll do.

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Andy Vasquez may be reached at avasquez@njadvancemedia.com.