The Jets didn’t land a long-term answer at quarterback when the draft board broke their way, but they did come away with Geno Smith, and that gives this season a very specific kind of pressure. He’s back in the building that drafted him in 2013, and New York is betting that a familiar face can steady the position while the rest of the roster keeps getting built out.
Smith arrived in March in a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders that sent him and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Jets for a 2026 sixth-rounder. New York also reworked his contract, and he’s set to play next season on an expiring deal worth $3.3 million.
At 35, he’s not being asked to be the future. The Jets have three first-round picks in what’s expected to be a deeper quarterback class next offseason, so the bigger question is whether Smith can give them a real season now - one that helps establish something sturdier in the second year of the rebuild.
There’s a recent blueprint for that. From 2022 through 2024 with the Seattle Seahawks, Smith put together productive work: 12,226 passing yards, 71 touchdowns, 35 interceptions and a 68.3 completion percentage. That stretch is the standard New York is hoping he can approach again.
For Smith to make this a success, three numbers matter.
First, he has to get to 4,000 passing yards. He’s done that twice before, in 2022 and 2024, and that’s more times than all Jets quarterbacks in franchise history combined.
The only Jets passer to clear that mark was Joe Namath in 1967. Ryan Fitzpatrick came close with 3,907 yards in 2015, the last time New York had a winning season, and Aaron Rodgers finished with 3,897 in 2024.
If Smith gets there, it would say a lot about a passing game that ranked 32nd in the league last season.
Second, Smith needs at least a 2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He hit that in 2022 and 2023, when he threw 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, then 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
For the Jets, that kind of efficiency has been rare. Outside of Rodgers in 2024, the last quarterbacks to do it were Josh McCown in 2017 and Fitzpatrick in 2015.
And with young players around him - including wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, left tackle Olu Fashanu, right tackle Armand Membou and rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq - the Jets need the ball to stay out of harm’s way so those reps actually mean something.
Third, Smith has to complete at least 65% of his passes. That’s another line the Jets haven’t crossed often.
McCown did it in 2017, and before that it was Brett Favre in 2008. Smith’s career completion rate sits at 65.2%, and he’s been close in each of his last four seasons, including 64.7% in 2023.
If he stays in that neighborhood, it should mean more opportunities for Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Mitchell, Sadiq, rookie wideout Omar Cooper Jr. and tight end Mason Taylor.
The Jets don’t need Smith to become their quarterback of the future. They need him to be accurate, efficient and productive enough to move the offense forward while the rest of the roster keeps taking shape.
In Other News...
Jets Backup QB Battle Just Became A High-Stakes Two-Man Race
The Jets search for a reliable backup quarterback has settled into a tighter, more familiar kind of competition, with veteran Bailey Zappe and rookie Cade Klubnik now the names to watch for the QB2 job. New York had explored other options along the way, but the market thinned out and left the team weighing Zappes NFL experience against the upside Klubnik flashed before his spring work was slowed.
Klubnik still has the kind of arm talent and ceiling that can make a staff pause, but his availability was not complete during OTAs and minicamp because of a minor back injury. Zappe, meanwhile, offers the steadier profile of a player who has already been through the league grind, and that contrast is what makes this battle worth following as the Jets sort out who would be next in line if the position is needed. [Read more 🡒]
Geno Smith Just Entered A Defining Chapter Raiders Fans Know Well
The Jets are turning to a familiar face at quarterback, acquiring Geno Smith from the Raiders for the 2026 season and handing the 35-year-old the chance to lead the offense again. Smiths path has been anything but linear since his early years in New York, and his strong run with Seattle helped restore his standing around the league before his move to Las Vegas.
Now he arrives back in a place that knows his story well, but under very different circumstances. After a difficult 2025 season with the Raiders, Smith enters 2026 with plenty at stake, and the Jets are betting he can steady the position and show he still belongs as a starter in the NFL. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans Are Already Asking How Real David Bailey Can Be
The Jets used the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft on Texas Tech defensive end David Bailey, a move that immediately put him at the center of their defensive makeover. He is expected to step in opposite Will McDonald IV and give New York a much-needed edge presence, with the front office also adding Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare in free agency to deepen a pass rush that suddenly looks far more dangerous than it did a year ago.
Baileys college production is part of why the excitement has come so quickly, and the early conversation around him is less about whether he can help than how fast he can become a difference-maker. For the Jets, a strong rookie season would already change the tone around the defense, but the bigger question is whether Baileys ceiling is high enough to make New Yorks investment look even smarter before the season is over. [Read more 🡒]