The New York Jets have a number of financial issues related to the salary cap, which is one reason why the team is planning to ask wide receiver Santonio Holmes to restructure his contract so the franchise will have more flexibility in the upcoming offseason.
According to ESPN.com, the Jets are asking to restructure Homes' deal to help give the team more salary cap space so they can make more roster moves to help improve the team for the 2013 season. The report says that Holmes is set to make $11.25 million next season, including $7.5 million in guaranteed money.
The Jets have already made moves to help free up salary space this offseason, including by cutting a number of veteran players, including Calvin Pace, Bart Scott, Eric Smith and Jason Smith. The team helped free up $30.7 million in cap space and put the team nearly $6 million under the cap.
Holmes has already made $20 million over the past two seasons and has a $12.5 million cap hit for the 2013 season, which is the third highest on the Jets. Holmes is rehabbing from a season ending foot injury suffered earlier in the year that kept him out of 12 games.
The receiver will be 29-years-old in March and underwent foot surgery in October after suffering a Lisfranc injury. He is set to undergo another surgery this month to remove plates from his foot and he is coming off of a season in which he caught just 20 balls for 272 yards and one touchdown in just four games.
Holmes was inured in a 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and went down without being contacted by an opposing player. Holmes screamed in pain and tossed the ball away from him causing a fumble, allowing the 49ers to take the recovery in for a defensive touchdown. His best game of the season came the previous week in a 23-20 overtime loss to the Dolphins, when he made 14 receptions for 147 yards.
The Jets have had a very eventful offseason and spent time during the NFL combine this past weekend trying to find out any trade interest in backup quarterback Tim Tebow. The team also is rumored ot be interested in trading star cornerback Darrelle Revis if the two sides cannot reach a new contract extension.
Owner Woody Johnson has been reluctant to pay Revis as one of the top players in the NFL, something the cornerback has stated he deserves. The Jets do not have much cap flexibility and have money tied up in two quarterbacks they are not confident in Mark Sanchez and Tebow. The team is likely to bring in a third player to compete for the position, either through the draft, free agency or a trade.
