Report: D'Brickashaw Ferguson Would Have Played at Full Salary

Manish Mehta reports D'Brickashaw Ferguson would have returned in 2016 had the Jets been willing to pay him his full salary.

Ferguson, 32, had been contemplating retirement since the team discussed the pay cut, according to sources. In the end, there were myriad factors for his choice to retire now, but know this: Ferguson would almost certainly have played on his scheduled salary. However, the realization that that was not practical — a significant pay cut was on the horizon — prompted him to consider the benefits of walking away.

That might be true, but this was never a viable option. Ferguson's $14 million hit would have been the biggest cap number at the left tackle position in 2016. We have been saying it for over a year. Ferguson playing at that number was a nonstarter.

As much as the Jets asking him to take a paycut might have played a role in this, Jason LaCanfora noted Ferguson was not going to have many options to get paid elsewhere in the league had the Jets cut him.

As for Ferguson, I spoke to evaluators for teams who have a need at left tackle and who did work on the veteran waiting for him to get cut. The reviews were not favorable.

"He was pretty awful last year," one exec said. "They should just cut him. They won't get anything for him."