According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and confirmed by multiple other reporters the Jets will be releasing starting guard Brian Winters.
A surprise release: Jets are cutting last season’s starting right guard Brian Winters, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 2, 2020
As a starting guard, Winters is not expected to be without a job very long.
We have long said that Winters would be a potential salary cap casualty this year so the release does not come as much of a surprise to me. With the expected revenue decrease it made a player in Winters situation much more vulnerable to not even have an opportunity in training camp.
Winters signed a four year, $29 million contract with the Jets in 2017 and had played the role of a steady presence on the Jets offensive line in 2017 and 2018. Last year Winters just played in 9 games before injury ended his year, the second time in three seasons he finished the year on IR.
Winters was set to count for $7.28125 million on the salary cap this year. There is no dead money associated with his release so the Jets will clear the full amount from the cap. Once the Jets process this release they will have around $28 million in cap space in 2020 with more to likely come if CJ Mosley makes his opt out official.
Jason is the founder of OTC and has been studying NFL contracts and the salary cap for over 15 years. Jason has co-authored two books about the NFL, Crunching Numbers and the Drafting Stage, which are widely circulated in the industry and hosts the OTC Podcast. Jason’s work has been featured in various publications including the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network and more. OTC is widely considered the leading authority on contract matters in the NFL.