The Jets are running out of time to settle the most awkward job on the roster, and Justin Tucker’s name is now part of the conversation.
With Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans only eight days away, New York still does not have a settled kicker. Jason Sanders was initially declared the winner of the competition, then finished the preseason poorly, and that opened the door for the team to claim Blake Grupe off waivers. Even after that move, the Jets kept looking around and brought in multiple kickers for workouts, Tucker included.
At 36, Tucker is one of the biggest names ever to handle the job. He’s also a player coming off a brutal 2024 season and a year away from football in 2025.
Last season, he missed a career-high eight field goals and two extra points, giving him 10 misses overall, which tied for the most in the league. He made just 19 of 27 field goal tries, a 73.3% success rate that was a career low.
The drop-off didn’t happen overnight. Tucker was at 94.6% in 2021, then slipped to 86% in 2022 and 86.5% in 2023 before the collapse in 2024. That kind of decline, paired with his age, makes it hard to see him as a clean fix for a team already searching for stability.
There’s also the off-field situation that helped lead to his release from the Baltimore Ravens. Tucker was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by 16 massage therapists across eight spas in the Baltimore area.
This year has already brought more missed opportunities for him. Tucker worked out with the New Orleans Saints before losing out to Cade York, whom the Jets released earlier this summer.
He also lost a job to Grupe with the Indianapolis Colts. In both cases, he came in for a tryout and left without a spot on a 90-man roster.
For now, Grupe looks like the best bet in New York. But the bigger issue is that the Jets still don’t have a kicker they can trust without hesitation, and that’s a real problem heading into Week 1.
This is not the kind of team that can afford games being decided by the kicking game, especially after a season when Nick Folk tied for the best field goal percentage in the league.
In Other News...
Jets Stars Are Already Fueling One Huge 2027 Dream
The Jets are already looking way down the road, and with the 2027 NFL Draft projected to be a strong one, their own future capital is a big reason why. New York is expected to have three first-round picks that year, giving the team a rare chance to reshape the roster in a major way if the board breaks right. For a franchise still trying to stack enough talent to matter in the AFC, that kind of draft flexibility can change the conversation fast.
One name that naturally fits the speculation is Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a prospect drawing attention well before that draft gets close. Geno Smith and Garrett Wilson have already praised the young receiver, only adding to the buzz around what he could become by the time the Jets are actually on the clock. Whether New York uses that draft haul to chase a premier receiver, address other needs, or simply take the best players available, the early chatter makes clear how much upside is attached to 2027 already. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans Suddenly Have A Real Week 1 QB Watch List
The Jets quarterback search is already stretching beyond the current roster, and the first big college weekend of the season gives their front office an early look at several names that could matter in 2026. Darren Mougey and the rest of the decision-makers have been tracking the position closely, and Week 1 offers a useful starting point as Drew Mestemaker, Darian Mensah, CJ Carr, Dante Moore and Arch Manning all land in games that should say something real about their development.
For a team still trying to line up its next long-term answer under center, these are the kinds of September games that can quietly shape later conversations. Matchups against notable opponents will give Jets evaluators a chance to see how each quarterback handles pressure, decision-making and the bigger stage, even if the picture is still far from complete this early in the process. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Carroll Just Reopened The Geno Smith Debate For Jets Fans
Pete Carrolls latest comments have a way of tugging Jets fans right back into an old conversation they thought was long settled. The veteran coach, who knows Geno Smith from their Seahawks years and now oversees him again with the Raiders, said he still sees a quarterback who can bounce back, even after a rough 2025 season in Las Vegas. His explanation leaned less on Smiths ability and more on the support around him, from the quality of the roster to the coaching structure.
For Jets followers, the timing makes the remark land with extra force, because Smiths name still carries that familiar what-if energy in New York. Carrolls view is that the talent has not gone anywhere and that the right environment could help Smith perform at a high level again, which is exactly the kind of reassurance that keeps a debate alive rather than ending it. Even if the Jets are not in the middle of the discussion now, a comment like this is enough to remind everyone how much the situation has always been about context as much as quarterback play. [Read more 🡒]