As New York Jets ' mandatory minicamp wrapped up earlier this week, some players stood out more than others, and some are facing mounting pressure to live up to their contracts or meet expectations.
One player whose contract could age poorly in 2026 is veteran center Josh Myers , who signed a two-year, $11 million extension with the Jets back in December. While that initially seemed like a decision that could make an immediate impact with Myers staying alongside Olu Fashanu , Joe Tippmann and Armand Membou on the offensive line, the Jets need him and everyone else on this o-line to play much better.
Myers has a solid group around him, especially with Tippmann's four-year, $66.2 million extension , which shows confidence in the Jets' long-term plan and head coach Aaron Glenn's belief that Membou has a chance to "be one of the greats," highlighting the potential up front. It all comes back to Myers, though, who has struggled to prove up to this point that his recent contract extension was worth it.
When the Jets signed Myers for two more seasons, the hope was that he could improve with a talented group next to him. Not only did he allow 28 pressures and commit seven penalties last season, but Pro Football Focus gave him the 39th-ranked overall grade (52.9), the 24th-ranked pass blocking grade (62.9), and a run blocking grade (51.7) that was 38th out of 40 qualified centers.
Those grades are nothing to write home about, so it is clear that Myers is facing a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations that have been placed on him by the Jets organization.
Throw in the fact that former Las Vegas Raider Dylan Parham , who was signed to a three-year deal in free agency, is also facing pressure after struggling against elite talent last season, and Fashanu giving the Jets another first-round pick alongside Membou, putting even more attention on Myers on a unit that was largely unchanged from last season.
But to be fair, Myers, a four-year starter with the Green Bay Packers before his current stint with the Jets, inherited the center position from Tippmann as part of a lineup reshuffling, and the Jets have been the only team in the league to start the same five linemen since then.
With that said, how Myers performs will have a huge say in what the Jets choose to do with him going forward. According to Spotrac, he has a $4.3 million cap hit in 2026 , but that does not even begin to account for the ramifications that come if the Jets were to cut or trade him.
According to Michael Nania of Jets X-Factor, "The Jets would not save any cap space by cutting Myers in 2026," with $4.34 million in dead money and a loss of $40,000 on cap. However, "The Jets can release Myers in 2027 to save $5.5 million in cap space while owing just $600,000 in dead money."
The bottom line is the Jets are putting a lot of trust in Myers and banking on him to improve off last season's subpar results. After all, this was a position that was fairly set coming into the offseason, considering the rash of upgrades that needed to be made elsewhere following a 3-14 season.
Myers may benefit from all the talent around him and another season in Gang Green. If he can hold it down at center, the hope is that it will lead to a better performance from Geno Smith and the rest of the offseason.
But if he does not show any improvements following the extension, this contract will age poorly, and a decision that could put the Jets in a precarious position next offseason if the performance does not meet expectations.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/jets/onsi as One Jets Contract That Will Age Poorly in 2026 .
