On paper, it makes an awful lot of sense. Heck, looking just at the paper, it’s maddening as to why the Jets haven’t made the moves yet.

With little to no cap space, and D’Brickashaw Ferguson carrying with him a declining skill set and $14 million cap hit… cut him. Breno Giacomini, his offensive tackle counterpart, struggled mightily a season ago, and he frees $4 million if released… so cut him.

Bada bing, bada boom– With two transactions, the Jets free near $15 million in cap space, and get rid of two players on the decline.

Simple, right?

Hah, yeah… about that. See, actually, it’s anything but.

Mike Maccagnan is not an unintelligent man. The Jets GM is quite smart, actually, which is exactly why he has yet to make the two most “obvious” moves.

Cut Breno, cut Brick, add $15 million in funds. The two transactions would suddenly, and instantly, take the Jets from cap-deprived to wealthy. They’d have certainly enough money to bring back Ryan Fitzpatrick. Heck, maybe even another free agent on the open market.

But see, here’s the thing about simply releasing Ferguson and/or Giacomini: The two, talent level aside, are the Jets two starting offensive tackles. Be them good or bad, they’re the team’s everyday offensive linemen.

Behind them, well, there really isn’t all that much. There’s Brent Qvale, who the team is reportedly high on, but other than that? Sean Hickey? Wesley Johnson?

Nothing. They’ve got nothing.

The Jets can’t simply “release” their two starting offensive tackles without having some form of a contingency plan behind them. Maybe one is let go, which opens the door for Qvale and a offensive-lineman-to-be-drafted-later to compete for the spot. But both? No way. It just doesn’t make sense.

See, while the Jets would “cut” the two in order to free space, they’d have to then take that money freed and use it to find another offensive tackle on the open market that’s as good, or better, than the two. Plus, they’ve gotta be cheaper.

There are certainly options out there that are cheaper, but better? Is it really worth taking a quarterback situation that’s already in flux and trotting out two giant question marks to protect him? Look at the players available, where’s the sure thing?

There’s Will Beatty or Jake Long, maybe, but both players are on the wrong end of 30 years old and each have dealt with injuries the last couple of years. There’s Khalif Barnes or Nate Chandler, but neither are as talented as Ferguson.

On the other side, there’s Don Barclay or Jamon Meredith, but are either of those really better than Giacomini? Would signing either of them really save that much money? After all, Giacomini does only carry with him a $5 million cap hit.

See, Maccagnan isn’t stupid. There’s a reason he hasn’t cut Ferguson or cut Giacomini yet. It’s because he’s aware that, even though they may not be the best, they’re the best for the Jets right now. Maybe had the Jets gotten a deal done with Steelers left tackle Kelvin Beachum, who visited a few weeks ago, that would have led to a Ferguson release. But they didn’t, and thus Ferguson is still a member of the team.

Does a pay cut make sense? Especially for a player like Ferguson? Sure, it could help. If the left tackle moved around his money a bit, spread it out over the ensuing years to help the Jets this year. But Ferguson doing that could hurt the team down the road.

It’s obvious Ferguson isn’t getting any younger. It’s obvious Ferguson isn’t the player he used to be. It’s obvious Ferguson is probably going to be a step or two slower than he even was last year.

But if the Jets can deal with Ferguson this year, they have a definitive, easy-money out next season. In 2017, Ferguson can be released by the Jets with just a $1.2 million cap penalty. And his cap savings? A whopping $13.025 million.

And Giacomini? Next year, the offensive tackle can be released and free $4.5 million while incurring a penalty of just $625,000.

An extra $15 million in cap space for the Jets right now doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help the team sign any premier-level right or left tackle on the open market, nor does it help the Jets down the road.

The best bet for the Jets? Sit on the two deals.

Pay Ferguson more than he’s worth, and do the same for Giacomini. Because maybe not doing the “obvious” move in 2016, is the best move for 2017.

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Connor Hughes is the New York Jets beat writer for the USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. He can be reached on Twitter (@Connor_J_Hughes), or via email (chughes@usatoday.com)