Breaking: Matt Forté retires

A message from running back Matt Forté:

This isn't a big surprise as the Jets were almost certainly going to cut the 32-year old anyway and he likely wouldn't have received much interest on the open market.

The Jets signed Forté to a three-year free agent contract in 2016 after he had spent the rest of his career with the Bears. They were hoping he'd have a similar impact to that of Brandon Marshall who they'd picked up from the Bears in 2015. However, Forté had the two least productive years of his career as he dealt with some injury issues.

In two years with the Jets, Forté had over 1,700 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 touchdowns. He had two 100-yard rushing performances as a Jet, rushing for exactly 100 yards on 30 carries in two 2016 games.

The cap effect of Forté retiring is the same as cutting him. They will save $3 million in 2018 - his base salary - with $1 million hitting the cap as a dead money charge in respect of his original signing bonus.