Jets say they’re undecided on Percy Harvin, restructuring an option

Last week, we detailed how the Jets’ upcoming decision on wide receiver Percy Harvin will impact the Seahawks’ draft, noting that Seattle will receive a fourth-round pick to complete the midseason trade that sent him to New York if he’s still on the roster by March 19 and a sixth-round pick if he’s released before then.

Noted in that blog post were some factors working against Harvin’s chances of remaining on the Jets’ roster, most notably a $10.5 million salary that is awfully steep given his injuries and underwhelming production the last two seasons. The Jets would assume no dead money by releasing Harvin, meaning they’d save $10.5 million in cap space by doing so.

New Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan told reporters at the scouting combine on Wednesday that the team hasn’t made a decision on keeping or releasing Harvin while also noting that it’s not necessary an either-or scenario. Another option is restructuring his deal, which would still give Seattle a fourth-round pick provided that Harvin is on the roster through March 19.

According to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, Maccagnan said money and the difference in draft-pick compensation owed to Seattle will be among the factors in the Jets’ decision.

“I think all of those things weigh into it,” he said. “I don’t want to get too far into [it] as a courtesy to Percy and his agent, Joel Segal. We will talk to those guys at some point in the near future.

“But you have to weigh all those things. You have to weigh Percy as a player, which is he’s a very good player so that has a certain value. But then you have to look at what he is financially compensated for. That’s a simple reality of the salary cap. You have to look at different things you can do, whether you carry him at his current contract or restructure to a more cap-friendly one. …

“All of those things factor into it, but a lot of it, too, is how our new coaching staff views Percy and how they would utilize him. So not to be overly vague, but there are a lot of different things that go into it and I those are a lot of the conversations we want to have with Joel and Percy himself.”

According to Condotta, new Jets head coach Todd Bowles reiterated that the team is still considering the decision without offering any substantial thoughts on the matter.