Written by Mike Chiari at Bleacher Report.com
After 10 NFL seasons, New York Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson is reportedly set to retire from football.
ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini was the first to report the surprising move Friday, and he touched on what it means for the Jets from a financial perspective:
Ferguson’s retirement frees up more than $9M in cap room for the Jets. Changes the complexion of their cap situation. #nyj
Brian Costello of the New York Post provided confirmation of Cimini’s report.
Spotrac tweeted further details regarding how Ferguson’s departure will impact the Jets’ salary-cap structure:
D’Brickashaw Ferguson’s retirement leaves behind $5.014M in dead cap to the #Jets ($9.093M savings). He earned $72.6M over 10 seasons.
Although Ferguson’s retirement may seem sudden, Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 reported that those close to him knew it was a possibility:
Teammates and the Jets have been aware of D’Brickashaw Ferguson’s considering retirement for weeks. Waiting on an official statement.
Despite the fact Ferguson is stepping away from the football field, he still has an interest in remaining involved with the NFL, per NFL Network’s Albert Breer:
Jets LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson would like to be an NFL general manager one day, so that’s a possibility for his next career path.
The 32-year-old offensive lineman spent his entire career with Gang Green after being selecting with the fourth overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft.
Ferguson played in and started every game during his career for a total of 160 appearances. He made the Pro Bowl each year from 2009 to 2011, and he was an extremely reliable and consistent presence.
Despite that, the Virginia alum was reportedly approached by Jets management in early April about taking a pay cut in order to improve the team’s difficult salary-cap situation, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
With a cap hit of over $14 million in both 2016 and 2017, per Spotrac, Ferguson was the most likely candidate for restructuring in order to give the Jets a bit more flexibility.
Prior to the talk of a reworked contract, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan didn’t completely commit to keeping Ferguson in the fold when asked about him in March, according to Mehta: “Right now, D’Brickashaw is under contract. Our thought is that he would be [on the roster]. … We’re trying to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization—both short- and long-term—so right now I would say he would be on our roster going forward, but we’ll see how this thing unfolds.”
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