After spending the 2010-13 seasons with the New York Jets, cornerback Antonio Cromartie‘s second tenure with the team will end after just one season with Monday’s news stating that he has been released.
Cromartie followed head coach Todd Bowles to the Jets after a lone season with the Arizona Cardinals, where Bowles had served as defensive coordinator, in 2014 but the veteran cornerback’s return to New York did not go well.
Cromartie signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Jets last offseason, but virtually from the start of training camp reports surfaced that he was struggling. A knee injury in Week 1 did not help things, even though he only missed one game later due to a thigh issue. Cromartie had zero interceptions, 29 total tackles and 12 pass breakups last season, and he was graded very poorly by Pro Football Focus.
The Jets will save $8 million against their 2016 salary cap by cutting Cromartie, with no more guaranteed money owed, but he is reportedly open to re-signing with the team. That would of course have to be a shorter contract than the one agreed to nearly a year ago, likely a one-year deal, and Cromartie may not be guaranteed a starting job or perhaps even a spot on the 53-man roster.
Cromartie has immediately professed his love for the Jets’ organization and Bowles, which is not surprising. But if that feeling was mutual, an effort to work out a restructuring of his contract probably would have come before an outright release. Things could change, but if Cromartie is going to continue his career next season it looks like he won’t do it back in a Jets uniform.
