Earlier this month, the Jets cut defensive end Claude Davis and cornerback Cliff Harris after they were arrested for marijuana possession.
Now, the Jets face a more delicate dilemma.
With running back Mike Goodson facing guns and weapons charges, it’s easy at first blush to assume the Jets won’t mess around. That’s precisely what Jets offensive lineman Willie Colon believes will happen.
“It’s one of the things where it’s zero-tolerance with stuff like that,” Colon said Saturday, per Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. “It’s sad. Mike could have been huge for us.”
He still could be. As Colon learned during his time with the Steelers, certain players get the benefit of the doubt, and certain others become the example. With Goodson, who received a $1 million signing bonus as part of a three-year, $6.9 million contract in March, the Jets could be inclined to give him a second chance.
Much of that depends on Goodson’s legal situation. Some players get to continue playing while charges are pending; others (like Mike Vick) don’t. If the NFL doesn’t suspend Goodson pending the resolution of these charges, the Jets can either keep Goodson on the team and possibly recoup some of the signing bonus if he’s suspended/incarcerated at a later date, or they can cut him and let him walk away with a far better deal than DeAngelo Hall’s $8 million for eight games.
Goodson would get $1 million for no games.
That gives the Jets one million reasons to keep him around.