Jets Name QB Geno Smith Starter For Now

Since the end of the 2025 NFL season, the Jets have almost completely turned over their quarterbacks room. After shuffling three starting quarterbacks last year, head coach Aaron Glenn has named his starter for the 2026 campaign early, according to Judy Battista of NFL Network.

Traded away is Justin Fields, while Tyrod Taylor and Hendon Hooker have walked in free agency, leaving only undrafted rookie Brady Cook remaining from last year’s roster. The first to join Cook in the room was former Patriots starting quarterback Bailey Zappe. After leaving New England, Zappe had gone back and forth between the Chiefs and Browns over the past two years before signing a reserve/futures deal with the Jets in February.

The final passer to join the room was a familiar face as the Jets traded a sixth-round pick to Las Vegas for a seventh-rounder and the quarterback they drafted in the second round out of West Virginia 13 years ago. The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season. In the 15 campaigns since then, New York has had a losing record in all but three of those seasons. The first was an 8-8 campaign the season after they last made the playoffs. The second and third occurred with Geno Smith on the roster when he led his team to an 8-8 record as a rookie in 2013 and when he backed up Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015’s 10-6 campaign. It’s been 10 straight losing seasons since then.

After rediscovering success in Seattle, where he earned Pro Bowl honors in two straight years and helped the Seahawks to three winning seasons, Smith fell back to earth during his lone year in Vegas. He failed to reach 20 touchdowns for the first time since reestablishing himself as a starter in the NFL, led the league with 17 interceptions and 55 sack taken, and worst of all, won only two of 15 games as a starter, leading to the Raiders receiving the No. 1 overall pick, with which they will draft his eventual replacement.

Despite the down year, Glenn has expressed the utmost confidence in the veteran. In an interview with Battista, Glenn called Smith a “bonafide starter,” going on to say that “there is no doubt in (his) mind that (they) brought a competent starter” to the team. When Battista sought further clarity that Smith was being named the starter, Glenn quickly replied, “No doubt about it, he’s our guy.”

According to Connor Hughes of SportsNet New York, while Smith may be the starter for the Jets this year, the 35-year-old is clearly not the team’s future at the position. Despite the team hosting such passers as Ty Simpson and Drew Allar in recent weeks, Hughes asserts that this year’s draft will likely be used to build a talented team around outside the quarterback position, and the future at quarterback will be whoever they decide to draft in 2027.

For now, though, Smith is the bridge starter to carry the team until his successor is drafted and, perhaps, until his successor is ready after sitting and learning for a bit. Returning back to where his journey first began, Smith has an opportunity to pave a successful pathway for the Jets’ next potential franchise quarterback, helping them avoid the trials and tribulations he faced as a talented young passer who just needed time to bloom.