Jamison Crowder’s pay cut reduced his cap hit by $5 million

© AP This year has been nothing short of a nightmare for Jets wide receivers. Top wideouts Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman have yet to make an impact while dealing with injuries. Vyncint Smith has also yet to return from core surgery. Jamison Crowder has returned from a hamstring injury, but he was still forced out of action for two weeks. Jeff Smith just returned from injured reserve and Lawerence Cager is destined to miss at least one week after injuring his hamstring against the Broncos in Week 4. Braxton Berrios deserves credit for his production, but other than the shifty slot receiver opening eyes in an increased role, the Jets have not gotten much out of their wide receivers so far this season.

Jamison Crowder’s restructured contract did indeed feature a 50-percent pay cut.

The Jets receiver’s 2021 base salary dropped from $10 million to $5 million, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson. However, $4.5 million of that money is now guaranteed.

Crowder originally had no guaranteed money on his base salary and the Jets would have saved $10 million by releasing him. Now they’ve tied themselves to Crowder but save money on the backend. He’ll still get his $29,411 per game active roster bonus as well.

Crowder’s cap hit fell from $11.375 million to $6.352 million. This puts the Jets’ 2021 salary cap space at an estimated $32.1 million, according to Over The Cap. That number will drop once New York officially signs its final three rookies in Zach Wilson, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Elijah Moore.

Joe Douglas will likely use a portion of any remaining cap space on players who can fill various holes across the roster. That could include veteran tackle Morgan Moses, whom the Jets have courted over the past month.

Crowder’s new deal is the best-case scenario for the veteran wideout this season before he likely heads into unrestricted free agency in 2022. But he said he doesn’t look at this upcoming season as an audition year.

“It is what it is. It’s a business,” Crowder said Tuesday. “I’m here now. I’ve got to get out there, build a connection with the quarterback and do what I can to help out the offense.”

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