Jets WR Allen Lazard accepts pay cut: sources

NEW YORK — There have been several changes to the Jets’ roster this offseason.

However, one of their free-agent signings from two years ago will remain on the team in 2025.

Wide receiver Allen Lazard has agreed to a pay cut to continue playing with the Jets, sources told the New York Daily News. Last month, the Jets permitted Lazard to seek a trade ahead of free agency. But general manager Darren Mougey told reporters at the NFL annual meetings on March 30 that the Jets would like Lazard to restructure the four-year, $44 million contract he signed in 2023.

Lazard was originally due to make a $11 million non-guaranteed base salary in 2025. However, he took an $8.5 million pay cut to remain with the team.

As part of his restructured contract, Lazard will make a guaranteed salary of $1.75 million this upcoming season and become a free agent in 2026. His new cap number will fall from $13.2 million to $4.6 million. There’s also an additional dead money charge of $4.4 million in 2026.

Over the Cap was the first to report the news of Lazard’s restructured contract.

The Jets have a thin receiver room outside of No. 1 option Garrett Wilson, which is why the team wanted to keep Lazard, who was second on the team in touchdown catches (six) last season. This offseason, the Jets signed both Josh Reynolds and Tyler Johnson to go alongside Wilson, Lazard, Xavier Gipson and Malachi Corley.

In 2023, before trading for Aaron Rodgers, the Jets signed Lazard to a four-year, $44 million contract. They also added offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and wide receiver Randall Cobb to appease Rodgers, as the Jets wanted to provide comfort by surrounding the four-time NFL MVP with familiar faces.