The Jets’ benching of Justin Fields is “not expected to be temporary,” per ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Barring injury, Tyrod Taylor is slated to start for the rest of the 2025 season, and Fields is likely to leave New York this offseason.
The Jets believe it will be easier to evaluate their young pass-catchers – particularly rookie tight end Mason Taylor and wideouts John Metchie and Adonai Mitchell – with Tyrod Taylor under center. The 36-year-old quarterback is more willing to play within the structure of the offense as opposed to Fields, who is more liable to hold onto the ball, throw a check down to a running back, or take off on a scramble. Though Taylor has three interceptions in 69 attempts compared to Fields’ one in 204 attempts, the Jets are willing to weather the risk of interception in exchange for more opportunities for their skill players.
The team is also planning to find a new quarterback this offseason, whether it be a rookie draft pick or another veteran acquisition. The draft from the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades has given New York enough draft capital to land nearly any available passer in the offseason.
The Jets are also expected to part ways with Fields after the 2025 season concludes. $10MM of his $20MM salary in 2026 is guaranteed; between that and his poor performance, he is unlikely to draw trade interest and will likely be released as a post-June 1 cut. That would save $10MM against the Jets’ 2026 salary cap with a $13MM dead cap charge with another $9MM of dead money in 2027. However, the team has more than $70MM of dead money to account for next year, per OverTheCap, including $35MM from Aaron Rodgers, $11MM from Gardner, and $9.8MM from Williams. The Jets may prefer to push as much dead cap from Fields’ deal into 2027.
They could do so by converting his remaining guaranteed salary into a signing bonus and prorating it across the remainder of his contract. The Jets’ 2026 savings would stay at $10MM, but only $5MM of Fields’ dead money would hit with the remaining $17MM being pushed to 2027. Fields’ deal already has four void years built in, suggesting that the team wanted to have this contract option in case 2025 went poorly, which it did.
The first three void years were used to prorate his signing bonus, while the fourth was left empty in case of a 2026 restructure. Adding a void year to a contract, even for purposes of a restructure, requires player consent, which Fields may not give. Instead, general manager Darren Mougey designed his deal to ensure that the Jets had more flexibility after the 2025 season.
It almost feels like Mougey and new head coach Aaron Glenn saw 2025 as a reset year in New York. They took a chance on Fields without too hefty of a commitment; once it became clear that he was not the Jets’ long-term quarterback, they pivoted to blow up the core of their roster. Now, they have enough draft capital to acquire a quarterback and the opportunity to complete rebuild the Jets from the ground up.
I wonder if they used the Madden ratings to determine this.
personally I do not envision a mid-career renaissance from Fields a la Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones because Fields’ major issue is quick-thinking & decision-making, and this is a flaw that he has not demonstrated improvement on in during his 5 NFL seasons.
It seems that fundamentally his hardware cannot process NFL speeds
I maintain the opinion that, in the right system, Fields could be a serviceable NFL QB that could get you somewhere between seven and nine wins. That’s not exciting, I know. But, I would like to see what he could do in a stable situation, with an offensive HC.
The Jets aren’t that team.
Watching him try to go through reads is painful, man. I don’t think he’s capable of being a winning QB.
Which team would that be then? He’s already been on 3 teams.
New Orleans, with Moore
LA, with McVay
Minnesota, with O’Connell
Or, if Kingsbury lands a job somewhere.
Plus 3 – How about
1) Saskatchewan Rough Riders (CFL)
2) Iowa Barnstormers ( Arena Football League)
3) Raj’s Quicky Mart (Georgia Pee Wee league)
Fields will walk away with $38M in career earnings. Not bad.
If hes on a team with the #1 defense and #1 special teams that wins all his games for him, maybe. But yall gotta give it up that hes serviceable in any capacity outside of the 1 yard line and rushing on the outside. Watch a film breakdown perhaps
Use Taylor to evaluate Metchie and Mitchell!? Leftover scraps from other teams. 😂
Mitchell is very much worth a look. He was a second rounder last year, he got stuck behind a strong group, and while the flaws in his game are major and frustrating, he’s still very talented, especially compared to what the Jets have after Wilson.
For the Jets, why not I guess, but as a Colts fan who watched every snap…”worth a look” is generous. He appears to be talented every now and then, but the flaws aren’t just frustrating – – they’re drive killing. Rounding routes, inconsistent effort and zero chemistry with any QB the Colts put on the field (or in college). Every pass to him felt like a 50/50 ball…and that’s before the defender showed up (bad hands). Also, he wasn’t stuck behind a strong group. He couldn’t beat out a group the Colts were actively trying to upgrade last season.
All fair and problematic, but he’s got great measurables and he has great ability at getting open. Now if only he can get where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there.
Don’t forget the brick hands! Maybe he will eventually figure it out and turn out to be starter-quality, but even if he does, Colts fans won’t lose any sleep at all. You’re just getting started with him – – it can get pretty painful 🙂
Hey, I root for a team in a go nowhere season that’s desperately missing Josh Reynolds in the year 2025. If anyone can be glad to see Mitchell play, it’s me.
I do see why they’d want to take a look. I tried to like him as long as I could, but most fans were tired of him and are glad he’s gone. It seems like he was just a “throw in” for the trade – – I think the Colts were tired of him too. We’ll have to re-visit next year around this time!
We’re Jets fans. We’re well familiar with pain.
Maybe there is a reason teams allow him to get open…
When he shakes guys in man coverage with his releases and speed, it’s not because they’re letting him do it.
Good point bag of poop!
Not sure what your point is here. Itd be stupid to not get a better idea of what you have, even if you find out that theyre bad, it clears up what decisions need to be made.
I don’t understand y they didn’t demand A.
Richardson or Joe Milton when they made those trades neither player or going to be a starter for their respectable teams
I know Richardson (or Milton) is trash but so is every qb on their current roster and everyone they ever drafted so y not see if he could turn into something by the end of the yr what does it really hurt to try maybe they find gold
(Im a pats fan)
Hello to all Jets fans. Sooooo are they losing on purpose for Manning or some other QB? Who do you want??
Sign Mac Jones and fill out the holes with all the picks, none of the QB in this draft are very good
lol nah no thanks. take the QB now
I think the hope was for Manning, but he fell off hard and now we’re in position to spend a top draft pick on a QB that would probably be second or third tier in a better QB draft. I’m hoping one of them works out.
Manning was never going to declare for ‘26 draft. His fall just cements that.
Because those guys are bad. They already have that. Hard pass
Bringing in a developmental QB mid-season is not a great way to evaluate talent.
Richardson might be the only QB in the league WORSE than Fields.
I mean, permanent as long as a 36-year old who’s been hurt a lot stays healthy.
Once he gets hurt again it’s Brady Cook time
Think the Fields as a QB experiment has to end, convert him to a RB
Or a WR a la Ronald Curry.
Signing Fields was the equivalent of Mets signing Montas.
Most of us longtime NFL fans saw this coming from just sitting on our couches watching him play. How did he get $20M guaranteed is the question I have? I doubt there was much of a market for him (if any) when he signed with the Jets. I would’ve thought Jets would’ve ran him into the ground instead of trying to make him a pocket passer, which anyone sitting on their couch can see he can’t be.
Thats what makes me worried about these upcoming offseasons being ran by these guys. If they got fooled by his college tape and drafted him, thats one thing. But he had so much NFL film that doesnt point to being a legitimate option that you send that much guaranteed money too. It was like a flyer contract but you have to pay him if it didnt work out anyways. It was stupid and an instant waste of an offseason
I mean their options were kinda limited. They kicked Rodgers to the curb, so he wasn’t an option. Darnold? I have my doubts he would have even taken the call. Geno Smith? Been there, done that. They paid Fields for one year and can move on from him as soon as the season ends. It is what it is
They didnt have to kick Rodgers to the curb, so he was an option. They chose against it. I wouldve rather had a year of Jameis goofin off having fun throwing 5 INTs and 300yds a game than under 50 passing yards and pure depression
Fields was probably THE worst QB option available. Anyone but Fields i’d be more on board with
They absolutely had to kick him to the curb. He held too much power within the team. He’s the reason we were stuck with Hackett for two years, no matter what he says
No they didnt lmao Hackett also had previous work experience with Saleh, that was as much of a Saleh hire as it was something to accommodate Aaron. You believe too much in media tabloids, sports media is especially nothing but bs
Apparently the Steelers were interested in bringing him back. But not for the dollars the Jets were willing to do.
They’ll trade one of their new picks for Kyler Murray because their history says nothing to the contrary
Tyrod Taylor won’t make it two games and he’ll be hurt again
Time to get Cook’n!
Shouldn’t the Steelers send a “THANK YOU” of some kind to both the Giants and the Jets??
Not really, because the Steelers didn’t receive a “thank you” from the Bears for signing Mitch Trubisky 🙂
Become Taysom Hill. Boom career rejuvenated
Did they think his game against the Bengals meant he was turning a corner or coming into his own. Against one of the Or the worst defense in the history of the NFL in the last 40 years?
If by “they” you mean the Jets? Probably not. Tyrod was hurt, the CIN game happened then an ugly win against the Browns and then a short week into the Pats game. It just wasnt an appropriate time to make a QB change in general
If your in a NFL front office and your assistant says David Mulugheta is on the phone, tell her to hang up and block the number. Between the Watson, Fields, Parsons and Love contracts its a death blow to an organization.
To quote the legendary Ranch Wilder…”It’s about time.”