Jets’ QB2 Battle Between Bailey Zappe, Cade Klubnik

The Jets quarterback position is built for the future, but at the moment, it’s built for a short-term future. Starter Geno Smith is now two seasons removed from his last Pro Bowl campaign, and coming off a 2-13 year in Las Vegas, the 35-year-old’s homecoming back to the team that drafted him is not a move intending for him to lead the team long term. Instead, he should be expected to serve as a bridge passer until the team can find a promising successor.

Currently, it’s anticipated that the arm of the future will come from the 2027 NFL Draft class, which is expected to be rich in quarterback talent. Because of this, unless New York looks like a playoff contender early, the team won’t want to win so many games that it takes them out of position to land a top passer in next year’s draft. If the team falls out of contention early, though, the Jets may opt to bench the veteran, lessening their chances at achieving wins without significance and giving them a chance to get eyes on other arms currently in the system.

To that end, the QB2 battle in New York holds a decent amount of intrigue. Assuming the Jets don’t become world beaters in 2026, it’s reasonable to assume that, at some point in the season, the team will sit Smith, at which point the primary backup quarterback will get their opportunity to shine. Back in May, it was reported that Bailey Zappe, Brady Cook, and Cade Klubnik were all considered contenders for the No. 2 job with Zappe an early leader in the race. According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, the latest reports seem to indicate that Cook has fallen out of reach of a competition that now appears to be Zappe vs. Klubnik.

Cook was an undrafted rookie for the Jets last year out of Missouri. He spent most of the season on the practice squad, moving to the active roster late into the season, when initial starter Justin Fields was made inactive for Week 14. He made his NFL debut when New York benched starter for the week Tyrod Taylor as they reached a 21-0 deficit in the first quarter. Cook finished the game and would make the final four starts of the season for Gang Green after. In those five games, he finished the season having completed 57.5 percent of his passes for only 739 yards, two touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Between Zappe and Klubnik, it’s a difference between experience and potential. Zappe showed potential early in his career. Over a four-game stretch covering for an injured Mac Jones in his rookie season, Zappe completed 70.7 percent of his passes for 781 yards and five touchdowns to three interceptions. In six starts the next season, Zappe failed to recreate his early success, completing 59.9 percent of his passes for 1,272 yards and six touchdowns to nine interceptions. He appeared in one game over the past two seasons, losing a solitary start for the Browns in 2024 before sitting on Cleveland’s practice squad behind Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders last year.

Klubnik is an intriguing rookie option for New York. After a strong junior season at Clemson, many predicted he could wind up going in the first round, following in the footsteps of Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson before him. A disappointing senior campaign put a damper on those hopes as Klubnik fell to the fourth round of this year’s draft. Klubnik even helped his draft stock a bit as he impressed the Jets throughout the pre-draft process, and he continued to impress in the spring. Per Cimini, his coaches don’t believe there’s much work to be done with his mechanics. They believe all he needs to develop is experience.

Practically, if Smith goes down, Zappe reasonably gives the Jets a better chance to win now than Klubnik. Considering the path that this team is on right now, though, if Smith isn’t starting and the coaches feel comfortable putting the ball in Klubnik’s hands, it would do New York a lot of good to be able to see what they have in Klubnik before turning back to the draft for the next highly drafted QB.