Jun 20, 2021
Slot receiver Jamison Crowder took a pay cut but most of the money in his 2021 contract with the New … [+] York Jets is now guaranteed. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Jamison Crowder has a base salary of $5 million and a guaranteed salary of $4.5 million, per overthecap.com, after reworking his contract last week to remain with the New York Jets.
Crowder will count for $6,352,941 against the cap this year, a more than $4 million savings over the $10.375 million he originally was scheduled to count against the cap for the Jets this season. Plus, the Jets were able to retain their leading receiver in each of the past two seasons.
Crowder, a free-agent signee from Washington before the 2019 season, had team-highs in receptions of 78 in 2019 and 59 in 2020 despite missing four games last year due to injuries. He also threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to fellow receiver Braxton Berrios on a gadget play to help the Jets to one of their two victories last year, against Cleveland at home.
Per Over The Cap, the Jets would be stuck with $5.5 million in dead money if Crowder were to be cut, so this virtually guarantees the veteran slot receiver roster security for the 2021 season, despite the drafting of his heir apparent at the position, Mississippi’s Elijah Moore. On the field, it gives the Jets flexibility to line up the dynamic Moore, a second-round selection, at positions other than the slot. He had 25 of his 86 receptions in college last season when lined up away from the slot.
However, if Crowder were to be traded, the Jets only would be saddled with $1 million in dead money.
Crowder had stayed away from Organized Team Activities while his agent was negotiating with Jets general manager Joe Douglas, but first-year head coach Robert Saleh had said all along the team wanted Crowder back despite drafting Moore. Crowder reported for mandatory minicamp after taking the pay cut and was philosophical about it, saying, “I didn’t really have much of a reaction (to being asked to take less money). I just understand that it’s a business.”
He also likely understood when the contract was signed that because none of the money in the third season was guaranteed, it was unlikely the Jets were going to honor it unless he had outperformed the first two years of the deal by an incredible margin.
Crowder, who just turned 28 on Thursday, figures to be able to get up to speed in the offense quickly, and on the same page with rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, despite missing the voluntary practices. He said Tuesday that the concepts were similar to the offense he played in during his first two years in the league with Washington, when his offensive coordinator was Sean McVay, now the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. Crowder said the biggest difference was the terminology.
McVay and San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan run similar offenses, and Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is installing a system quite similar to Shanahan’s, which he learned as an assistant with the 49ers.
