With Aaron Rodgers no longer on the Jets, wideout Davante Adams is understandably out of the organization as well. Many have expected New York to also move on from fellow ex-Packer Allen Lazard, but he could remain in place for 2025. 
New Jets general manager Darren Mougey said on Sunday (via Brian Costello of the New York Post) the team hopes to keep Lazard on the roster. A report from last month indicated a release could be expected, and the same was recently repeated in the wake of the Josh Reynolds signing. As Costello notes, though, efforts to restructure Lazard’s pact are ongoing.
The 29-year-old joined the Jets on a lucrative deal in 2023, a move which was followed by the Rodgers trade. Lazard faced high expectations given the $11MM annual average value of his deal, but things did not go according to plan and he recorded 23 catches and one touchdown. A healthy season from Rodgers helped produce a better output in 2024 (60-530-6 statline), although a parting of ways would still not come as a surprise. Lazard received permission to seek a trade not long before free agency began, but obviously no takers emerged.
Mougey’s remarks suggest the Jets could still be willing to move on from the former UDFA, but working out a pay cut arrangement would allow him to remain in the fold. As things currently stand, Lazard is owed $11MM next season with a scheduled cap hit of $13.18MM. The same setup exists for 2026, the final year of the Iowa State product’s deal. A trade or release would yield roughly equal cap savings and dead money charges, but a post-June 1 designation would generate $11MM in savings while incurring a dead cap charge of $2.18MM.
Without Adams in place, moving on from Lazard would leave the Jets short on experienced receivers (although that vacancy was addressed to an extent with the Reynolds deal). Garrett Wilson is set to once again operate as the focal point of New York’s passing attack – something which was not always the case during Adams’ brief stint with the team – in 2025. Reynolds will serve in a complementary capacity, and 2024 third-rounder Malachi Corley could as well.
If Lazard accepts a pay cut, he will be in position to continue as a regular on offense (having handled an 84% snap share in 2024). Failing that, the possibility of a release will loom as the countdown to the draft continues.