New York Jets: Can cap space lure Kirk Cousins in free agency?

The New York Jets are in a position to land a good free agent quarterback in the prime of his career, and there’s one way to do it. Tout the cap space of the team.

On his Stick to Football podcast, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller reported Kirk Cousins has narrowed his decision down to the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets. There’s one way the Jets can woo Kirk Cousins into signing a contract with them, and it’s not overpaying for him. They can tout their cap space.

As of right now, the Jets have $94.8 million to spend in 2018, and that can be used to surround Cousins with a solid offensive core of player. However, it doesn’t end there. Based on estimations from Spotrac, the Jets also have $138.9 million in 2019, but that’s before they sign free agents and draft picks in 2018 and before any rollover from 2018.

That means, depending on how much the contracts are valued this offseason, the Jets could have another $50-plus million to spend in 2019. So, that means over the next two seasons, the Jets can spend more than the Vikings in free agency.

Team building isn’t about only 2018. If Cousins is forward thinking, he’d consider all the ramifications of a move to Minnesota. It’s not just about winning in 2018, which of course the Vikings have a better shot to do than the Jets. It’s about how long you can remain viable contenders, and for the Jets, it might be longer.

The Jets would have a younger defense, and with a younger defense, they could be contenders for a longer period of time. Kirk Cousins won’t stay in his prime for long, and a younger defense means that, even as he ages, they can remain in contention.

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If the Jets focus on their offense with free agency, and build a young and cheap defense, they can have a window of winning for four to five years. That’s their selling point, cap space and a longer window of opportunity for winning. If it’s about winning, it may be the Jets rather than the Vikings where Cousins wants to land. For the short-term it’s the Vikings, for the long-term it’s the Jets, period.