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The New York Jets have put their secondary hopes in the hands of Brandon Stephens.
The 28-year-old cornerback was signed to a three-year deal during the first wave of the NFL's 2025 free agency period. The ideal scenario for the Jets would be Stephens seamlessly replacing DJ Reed who left the team during free agency.
Until we see Stephens take on that challenge, what many in New York will most be curious about is the contract details relating to the contract he signed. Those deeper numbers have been released.
Stephens signed a $36 million contract for those three years. Parts of that will involve various bonuses such as the $10M signing bonus he earned, along with various other factors.
What usually matters most to fans is the impact on the salary cap.
Mixed into Stephen's deal to help the Jets handle those salary cap numbers are three void years. There are three additional years past the three Stephens agreed to play for the Jets that will hit the team's salary cap from 2028 to 2030 which helps lower his cap numbers.
According to Over The Cap, the Jets have backloaded Stephens' three-year deal. His salary cap his are:
Factoring in the dead-cap hits, the number tacked onto the Jets' salary cap if New York decided to cut him at any time, Stephens essentially has signed a two-year contract.
Stephens dead-cap hits are massive those first two years, $22.9M and $19.5M, respectively. That changes in 2027 as his dead cap drops to $6M.
Essentially if the Jets released Stephens in 2025 or 2026, the team would add near $19M and $5.5M in salary cap hits, respectively. In 2027, the Jets can cut Stephens and create $8M in cap space.
It's likely in 2027 that the Jets will take one of two routes: Cut Stephens and take that space, or sign him to an extension because they want to keep him while also manuvering his salary cap hit to create salary cap space.
Jets Wire will continue to provide updates throughout the 2025 offseason.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: 2025 NFL free agency: Contract details for Jets CB Brandon Stephens
Continue reading...
The 28-year-old cornerback was signed to a three-year deal during the first wave of the NFL's 2025 free agency period. The ideal scenario for the Jets would be Stephens seamlessly replacing DJ Reed who left the team during free agency.
Until we see Stephens take on that challenge, what many in New York will most be curious about is the contract details relating to the contract he signed. Those deeper numbers have been released.
Stephens signed a $36 million contract for those three years. Parts of that will involve various bonuses such as the $10M signing bonus he earned, along with various other factors.
What usually matters most to fans is the impact on the salary cap.
Mixed into Stephen's deal to help the Jets handle those salary cap numbers are three void years. There are three additional years past the three Stephens agreed to play for the Jets that will hit the team's salary cap from 2028 to 2030 which helps lower his cap numbers.
According to Over The Cap, the Jets have backloaded Stephens' three-year deal. His salary cap his are:
- 2025: $4 million
- 2026: $14 million
- 2027: $14 million
Factoring in the dead-cap hits, the number tacked onto the Jets' salary cap if New York decided to cut him at any time, Stephens essentially has signed a two-year contract.
Stephens dead-cap hits are massive those first two years, $22.9M and $19.5M, respectively. That changes in 2027 as his dead cap drops to $6M.
Essentially if the Jets released Stephens in 2025 or 2026, the team would add near $19M and $5.5M in salary cap hits, respectively. In 2027, the Jets can cut Stephens and create $8M in cap space.
It's likely in 2027 that the Jets will take one of two routes: Cut Stephens and take that space, or sign him to an extension because they want to keep him while also manuvering his salary cap hit to create salary cap space.
Jets Wire will continue to provide updates throughout the 2025 offseason.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: 2025 NFL free agency: Contract details for Jets CB Brandon Stephens
Continue reading...
