The Jets still don’t have a clean answer at quarterback, and that uncertainty is exactly why a familiar name is worth watching.
For now, New York is banking on Geno Smith, but there are real questions hanging over that plan. Smith has not been sharp in some practices, and he has also been dealing with a small injury.
Even if he settles in and plays well, the Jets still can’t treat him like a long-term fix. He’s getting up there in age, and if he gives them another year or two, that may already be more than the team is expecting.
That leaves the Jets in the market for something bigger down the line, and one possible route runs through Sam Darnold, the quarterback they once believed could be their answer.
A recent prediction from Seth Walder had Darnold off the Seahawks by 2028, despite the fact that he won a Super Bowl last season. Walder wrote, “Darnold will not be on the Seahawks in 2028,” and added, “He started last season red-hot and finished fairly strong in Seattle’s Super Bowl run.
“But from Weeks 10 to 18, he ranked 27th out of 30 quarterbacks in QBR. The Super Bowl win certainly will buy Darnold time. But if he stumbles in 2027, I don’t think there are guarantees that he will be re-signed.”
That kind of forecast would put Darnold back into play, and for the Jets, that shouldn’t be treated as a negative. If New York ever had the chance to reunite with him, it would almost certainly look better than the quarterback situation the team has lived through recently.
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Jets Still Have Two Starting Spots That Could Shift Fast
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Two jobs in particular still feel fluid, and the competition has been sharpened by injuries and by the kind of camp reps that tend to tell the story before September arrives. New York would like as much certainty as possible before the games count, but the current battle lines suggest the final secondary picture may not be sorted for a while yet. [Read more 🡒]