4:15pm: Make that five broken ribs for White, who confirmed the total Friday (via NJ.com’s Andy Vasquez). Two-plus months from free agency, White said the injuries are not expected to be an issue for too long into the offseason.
10:24am: The Jets cleared Mike White for a Week 17 start in what became a do-or-die game. White struggled in a one-sided loss to the Seahawks, but his rib trouble became an issue early in that outing.
A hit near the end of the first half in the Jets’ 23-6 loss in Seattle provided a setback for White, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports the veteran backup-turned-starter is dealing with four broken ribs (Twitter link). White had attempted to play through this issue this week, but Robert Saleh said an end-of-half blow became a major issue (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, on Twitter) henceforth. Set to close out his age-37 season, Joe Flacco will receive the call against the Dolphins.
White’s injury deteriorated throughout this week, Rapoport adds, nixing plans to start. The popular QB’s season will end early because of the injury that blunted his momentum. The Jets’ Week 17 loss eliminated them from playoff contention, providing little reason for them to trot out their preferred starter again. Barring a new contract, White is ticketed for free agency in March.
The Jets are not deviating from their latest plan to give Zach Wilson a reset. Wilson will again be inactive, with Saleh adding (via Cimini) the team is focusing on Wilson’s development for the 2023 season at this point. The former No. 2 overall pick has been twice removed from his starting role this season. After having been bumped to the backup gig following demotion No. 1, the erratic BYU product was inactive for Week 17. Wilson’s future with the Jets is up in the air, though the team continues to publicly convey long-term support. Wilson is signed through the 2024 season.
White’s clearance for Week 17 injected some hope into the Jets’ building after Wilson’s meltdown against the Jaguars, but the injury he suffered against the Bills weeks ago ended up being too much to overcome. He strung together back-to-back solid performances against the Bears and Vikings, but he will exit his contract year in need of more recovery time.
Flacco, who started over White in place of an injured Wilson during the season’s first three weeks, is also playing on an expiring contract. The Jets will end the season with Flacco and White each having started four games, with Wilson getting the call in the other nine. It can be safely assumed Saleh’s team, which improved significantly on defense this season, will be on the hunt for a veteran starter option this coming offseason.
The Jets have no plans to shop embattled quarterback Zach Wilson this offseason, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. “We’re not going to quit on him,” head coach Robert Saleh said in the wake of New York’s Week 16 loss to the Jaguars, a game in which Wilson completed nine of 18 passes for 92 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. Per Rapoport, the organization’s other top decisionmakers share those sentiments, despite recent reports that Gang Green is prepared to part ways with Wilson at season’s end.
Wilson’s uninspiring play has compelled the Jets to turn back toMike White for their critical Week 17 matchup against the Seahawks. Of course, the club had benched Wilson in favor of White in Week 12, and Wilson got his job back for a brief time only because White was dealing with multiple fractured ribs. Indeed, Wilson’s performance in the Jacksonville contest was so poor that he was replaced in the third quarter by Chris Streveler, a 2018 UDFA who had thrown a grand total of 17 regular season passes.
In his 22 games under center since being drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in 2021, Wilson sports an 8-14 record and has completed 55.2% of his passes for 15 touchdowns against 18 picks, which amounts to a dismal QB rating of 70.9. While growing pains and a general lack of talent around him in his rookie campaign can certainly excuse some of his first-year difficulties, his lack of progress is alarming.
However, as Wilson’s rookie contract is fully-guaranteed, releasing him this offseason is not realistic, and even a trade would result in a negative cap charge if it were consummated prior to June 1. So from a financial perspective alone, it makes sense for the Jets to continue their efforts to develop the BYU product and generate something of a positive return from their investment of premium draft capital.
White, meanwhile, has had several impressive games over the past two years, but his rate stats are not much better than Wilson’s. Still, one agent who represents prominent quarterbacks tells Rich Cimini of ESPN.com that White, who will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in March, has enough quality tape to appeal to teams looking for a bridge passer. If he plays well over the remainder of the season, the former fifth-round pick of the Cowboys could land a short-term deal worth at least $10MM-$12MM per year. While the Jets may consider re-signing White, it seems likely that they will at least explore more established options like Derek Carr or Jimmy Garoppolo before going that route, especially since they appear to be putting their rebuilding phase behind them.
In addition to a new quarterback, the club may be looking for a new offensive coordinator. Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post — who, incidentally, is among those who believe Wilson will be jettisoned in the coming months — cites one high-ranking executive who says owner Woody Johnson will want to fire current OC Mike LaFleur. La Canfora believes Johnson could consider even more dramatic coaching or front office shakeups, and while Cimini concedes that Johnson’s patience will be put to the test if the Jets finish the season on a six-game losing streak, the ESPN scribe thinks the owner will realize his organization is in generally good shape under Saleh and GM Joe Douglas (the QB situation notwithstanding).
If the Jets do look to trade Wilson, La Canfora reports that they will not receive more than a fifth-round pick in return.
December 26th, 2022 at 11:31am CST by Adam La Rose
The Jets’ playoff hopes have received a significant boost today. Quarterback Mike Whitehas been medically cleared to return to game action in time for Week 17, and he will resume his role as the team’s starting quarterback (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post).
The news comes after White missed the past two games with multiple fractured ribs. He exited the Jets’ loss to the Bills on more than one occasion after taking significant hits, and was clearly playing through pain by the end of the contest. He underwent testing from numerous doctors in his push to return as quickly as possible, but ultimately missed the past two games while recovering.
That opened the door to Zach Wilsontaking over the No. 1 role once again, after he had been benched in favor of White earlier in the year. The 2021 second overall pick delivered a better performance than most of his others during his brief NFL tenure in a 20-17 loss to the Lions in Week 15. However, he followed that up with a showing last Thursday which included 92 passing yards and an interception. Wilson was replaced by Chris Strevelermidway through New York’s hugely underwhelming loss to Jacksonville, a result which put their playoff chances in significant jeopardy.
More importantly, it marked another missed opportunity for Wilson to establish himself as the franchise signal-caller he was drafted to become. That has led to recent reporting that the Jets could be looking to part ways with the BYU product this offseason, despite two years (with the potential of three, due to the fifth-year option) remaining on his rookie contract. Such a move would constitute an abject failure for all parties involved, given the draft capital New York invested in Wilson to provide them with long-term stability at the position.
As White earns his job back, Wilson will again drop to the No. 3 spot on the Jets’ depth chart. Same as it was in the weeks immediately following Wilson’s demotion, the second-year passer is set to be inactive going forward. Joe Flacco will back up White, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones tweets. Barring injury, White is the starter for the rest of the season, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Since his return from an August PCL injury, Wilson has gone from starter to third-stringer to second-stringer, back to starter and now back to the third-string depth chart slot.
Despite Wilson’s rough ride as Gang Green’s starter in his second season, Robert Saleh still places faith in his long-term value. The Jets are shutting him down again, and although Sunday’s report indicated this could be it for the ex-BYU starter in the Big Apple, Saleh is again attempting to soften the landing here.
“The plan for Zach hasn’t changed. I still think he has a future here,” Saleh said, via Cimini. “I still think he’s going to be a really good quarterback. He needs time to just kind of sit back and continue the development that we were trying re-kick start, if you will, after the New England game. We still have him in our future and in our plans.”
White flashed potential while filling in for an injured Wilson last season, and has likewise done enough in his three starts in 2022 to earn head coach Saleh’s trust in the final weeks of the season. The former Cowboys fifth-rounder has averaged just over 317 passing yards per game, though that figure has only resulted in three touchdown passes against a pair of interceptions. Still, the offense’s overall productivity with him under center makes the decision to go back to him as soon as possible an unsurprising one.
White is a pending free agent, something which, along with the uncertainty surrounding Wilson’s future in the Big Apple, leaves the quarterback position one filled with plenty of intrigue heading into 2023. In the immediate future, though, White will look to end the four-game losing streak which has the Jets currently sitting at 7-8. A Wild Card spot is still possible if he can regain the form he showed prior to the injury.
Week 16 marked the latest underwhelming performance by the Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, and it has invited further speculation that his days in New York are numbered. Reporting from earlier today points to a parting of ways in the near future.
According to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, the Jets can be expected to move on from the former No. 2 overall pick this offseason (video link). That would represent a disastrous end to his tenure in the Big Apple given his draft stock, but not much of a surprise considering his struggles in 2022 in particular. Wilson made his second consecutive start on Thursday, a game in which he totaled 92 scoreless passing yards on 9-of-18 passing with an interception.
That performance led to Chris Strevelertaking over under center for the remainder of the game. Glazer notes that Wilson’s confidence was shot before the contest, and it took a significant hit after what transpired in the Jets’ loss to the Jaguars. The game dropped New York to 7-8 on the season, and leaves them with a long road back into the postseason after an encouraging start to the campaign.
2022 began, of course, with veteran Joe Flaccooperating as the starter for the first three weeks as Wilson recovered from knee surgery. The latter has not taken the Year 2 jump many were expecting after his promising college career at BYU and a number of moves the team made this past offseason which provided upgrades at the skill positions and along the offensive line. The unit has seen more success with Mike Whiteat the helm, but his fractured ribs necessitated the return to Wilson – something head coach Robert Saleh had previously stated would take place at some point. Glazer adds that White will start next week if he is able to do so.
Wilson, 23, still has two years remaining on his rookie contract – with the potential of a fifth-year option being tacked on next spring. His scheduled cap hits for 2023 and 2024 are $9.5MM and $11.1MM, respectively. While that would make him a highly cost-effective starter for any potential acquiring team, the far more likely scenario would be a change of scenery resulting in time spent as a backup.
Should Wilson be traded away, New York would also need to begin yet another search for a long-term quarterback. 2018 first-rounder Sam Darnoldwas tapped for that role, but the deal sending him to Carolina opened the door for Wilson to be drafted. Another trade sending a high-profile signal-caller elsewhere would mark a significant blow to the prospects for a franchise which has otherwise shown signs of improvement this year.
Zach Wilson will start for the Jets in Week 16, Robert Saleh confirmed. This was the expected Jets path, given the updates on Mike White‘s injured ribs. The short-week assignment made White’s road back tougher, and the team’s preferred starter will have a mini-bye to recover ahead of a possible Week 17 return. White attempted to receive clearance from as many as 10 independent doctors last week, and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com adds he is still consulting with doctors. But the Jets are proceeding cautiously with the fifth-year passer. Saleh does not believe the injury White suffered against the Bills is a season-ending malady, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. White is due for unrestricted free agency in March.
Here is the latest from the quarterback landscape:
After Mitch Trubisky played in most of the past two Steelers games, the team is ready to move its rookie back into action. Mike Tomlin expects Kenny Pickett to start Saturday against the Raiders, Teresa Varley of Steelers.com tweets. Pickett has now sustained two concussions this season.
The conditional 2024 pick the Browns obtained from the Panthers for Baker Mayfield will be a fifth-round choice, David Newton of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter). Mayfield needed to hit the 70% snap barrier with the Panthers. The new Rams starter did not come especially close to that, being demoted and then waived.
Derek Carr‘s recent Raiders extension — a three-year, $121.4MM pact — gives the team a three-day window following Super Bowl LVII to jettison the quarterback and save $40.5MM. Carr trade rumors are nothing new; he loomed as a trade candidate for much of the Jon Gruden period. But a GM informed the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora he does expect Carr to finally be dealt. Despite the Raiders’ struggles, Carr ranks 10th in QBR. The team’s blockbuster trade for Carr college teammate Davante Adams also might make a trade a tough sell, and the prospect of the Raiders needing to find an upgrade — an impediment to a trade during Gruden’s stay — also makes this a risky path. In his ninth season and having made 141 career starts, Carr is the longest-tenured starting quarterback in Raiders history.
Making a push for a second MVP, Patrick Mahomes offered a bit of insight on how he ended up in Kansas City. The sixth-year Chiefs passer said, after a productive meeting with Andy Reid ahead of the 2017 draft, he spoke with multiple teams who indicated they would draft him. During an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce‘s New Heights podcast (video link), Mahomes said he informed the Chiefs they would need to trade up to at least No. 11 to land him. Mahomes said he did not know the extent of the Saints’ interest at the time — New Orleans held the No. 11 pick — but the Cardinals’ affinity for then-Texas Tech prospect has been known for some time. Arizona picked 13th that year. The Browns also traded their No. 12 pick to the Texans, who chose Deshaun Watson. The Chiefs traded their No. 27 choice, a 2017 third-rounder and their 2018 first to the Bills to secure the No. 10 draft slot. That ended up being a franchise-changing decision.
DECEMBER 18: In addition to Week 15’s tilt with the Lions, White will likely miss the Jets’ Week 16 matchup with the Jaguars as well, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link). Wilson will therefore have a chance to win his job back sooner than expected.
DECEMBER 16: Mike White‘s rib injury will sideline him for the Jets’ pivotal Week 15 game against the Lions, meaning Zach Wilson will end up going from the third-string job to the starter in a week’s time.
The Jets announced Wilson would become White’s backup this week, with Joe Flacco being bumped down to No. 3 again. That shift will now rise in relevance. Doctors will not clear White ahead of the Jets’ Sunday tilt, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Robert Saleh has since announced it will be Wilson against Detroit.
After being forced to leave last week’s game twice, White will be given at least a week for additional recovery. White re-entered the Jets’ Bills rematch after both hits, drawing considerable praise for his toughness from teammates, and has practiced in a limited capacity twice this week. It was believed White, who said he is dealing with multiple rib fractures (via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini, on Twitter), would be able to go. But Jets doctors are not ready to clear their starter for contact just yet, per Schefter. This could be a multiweek injury, if doctors determine another hit could lead to internal damage, Cimini adds (via Twitter).
Saleh said the decision to move Wilson from No. 3 to No. 2 on the depth chart was actually made the Friday before the Jets-Bills game, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. Flacco still dressed and entered the game to replace White, losing a fumble during one of his seven snaps, but the team had decided Wilson would dress this week ahead of time.
Upon taking the rare step to bench a top-five quarterback pick for performance reasons in his second season, Saleh said the plan was for Wilson to play again this year. This will be an opportunity for the former unquestioned Jets starter to regain some momentum, and Wilson playing well would certainly reopen the door to another promotion. But the second-year passer struggled to the point Saleh had little choice — as far as his team’s playoff push was concerned — but to bench him last month. White has offered better performances since returning to the QB1 role.
Saleh did not confirm Wilson would remain the starter if he fares well Sunday, via CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter), but it would obviously be in the Jets’ best interests to see their highly drafted QB earn the starting job back. The Jets bailed on a former No. 3 pick (Sam Darnold) to select Wilson second overall, despite the BYU product not having a sustained run as a top prospect like Darnold did. Wilson has not shown much to indicate he will be a long-term option for the Jets, who have built a strong enough defense to make a surprise playoff push. Football Outsiders gives the Jets a 40.5% chance to qualify for the postseason, but a loss this week would increase the degree of difficulty in a conference that has two other 7-6 teams — the Patriots and Chargers. Entering Week 15, the Jets are just outside the AFC’s seven-team bracket.
Wilson’s 72.6 passer rating ranks last among qualified starters. He threw four touchdown passes in his seven starts this season. Flacco’s five (all in the season’s first three games, as he started in place of an injured Wilson) still lead the team. Wilson’s comments after his most recent start — a loss to the Patriots that included 103 total yards, a bottom-five mark in Jets history — rankled some of his teammates, and select Jets had expressed skepticism about the would-be starter this offseason. Although Wilson is under contract through 2024, considerable doubt about his status beyond this season has emerged. A solid performance this week would help here, though it could also complicate the current Jets’ QB situation.
December 14th, 2022 at 12:40pm CST by Sam Robinson
The Jets will soon check another depth chart-configuration box at quarterback. Robert Saleh said Wednesday Zach Wilson will move back into uniform by becoming the team’s backup in Week 15.
Since being benched following the Jets’ second loss to the Patriots, Wilson spent the past three games as the team’s third-stringer. He is now back in front of Joe Flacco, who has been demoted for a second time this season. Flacco, Wilson and new starter Mike White have each spent time in all three positions on the team’s depth chart this season.
For those keeping track of this jagged journey, Flacco has gone from QB1 (due to Wilson’s injury) to 2 to 3 to 2 and now back to 3. Wilson has gone from 1 to 3 to 2, with White climbing from 3 to 2 to 1 this season. Saleh began the week noncommittal about Wilson dressing again, but Saleh has said the hope is the former No. 2 overall pick plays again this season. The second-year Jets HC praised Wilson’s accountability since his demotion.
Wilson’s personal QBs coach, former Jets assistant John Beck, said (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com) he does not think the former No. 2 overall pick ever expected to be benched. Wilson is the first top-five QB draftee to be benched for performance reasons in his second season since Akili Smith 22 years ago. The Jets have shown a higher offensive floor with White, even though the team has lost two of the latter’s three starts (to admittedly strong opposition, in the Vikings and Bills). It is difficult to see them pivoting back to Wilson, though White was forced to leave Sunday’s game twice after hard hits.
White is expected to be ready for Week 15, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes, adding that his rib injury is believed to be a pain tolerance issue. White’s toughness in Buffalo earned him rave reviews from teammates. This came weeks after a report surfaced indicating select Jets were skeptical about Wilson this offseason. In 129 attempts, White is completing 62% of his passes. That is down from his 132-attempt 2021, when the former Cowboys fifth-rounder completed 66.7% of his throws. White sports a 49.1 QBR after three starts; his 2021 QBR sat at 50.5 before Wilson retook the reins after recovering from a PCL injury.
The Jets initially acquired White in 2019, when he signed with their practice squad. White received an offer to join the second iteration of the XFL, Cimini notes, adding that the rebooting league was proposing “significantly more” than the base NFL practice squad pay ($136K for a season at the time). But he joined the Jets as a depth option during Sam Darnold‘s bout with mononucleosis in September 2019. Then-backup Trevor Siemian broke his ankle during his first (and only) start as a Jet, leading to the team using Luke Falk as its next option.
“At the time, it was pretty tough,” White said, via Cimini, of his NFL-or-XFL decision. “I knew I was an NFL quarterback — I wasn’t an XFL quarterback — but [the XFL] was an opportunity to play and I knew I needed film. The only film I had was preseason from Dallas, and it wasn’t the greatest film, to be honest.”
White did not play in 2019 or 2020 but broke through in 2021, when he became the first Jets passer since Vinny Testaverde in 2000 to top 400 yards in a game. White then went down with an injury in his next start and threw four interceptions against the Bills upon returning. Despite Wilson’s move to second string, White does not appear in jeopardy of losing his job. If the Jets fall out of playoff contention, however, that would probably change. White is a free agent at season’s end; so is Flacco. Two years remain on Wilson’s rookie contract.
The Patriots will be facing off against the Cardinals on Monday night without a few key pieces. The team’s official injury report lists wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, cornerbackJalen Mills, and offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn as out for the game on Monday night.
Meyers is the team’s leading receiver. Despite trailing running back Rhamondre Stevenson for the team-lead in receptions, Meyers still leads the team in receiving yards, by a healthy margin, and receiving touchdowns with 593 yards and three scores. Without Meyers, quarterback Mac Jones will be throwing to DeVante Parker, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, and rookie second-round pick Tyquan Thornton, among a few others. This is the third game of the year that Meyers will miss.
Mills, one of New England’s starters at cornerback, will also be missing his third game of the season and his second consecutive game. When Mills was out last week, the Patriots used a combination of fourth-round rookie Jack Jones, third-round rookie Marcus Jones, and Myles Bryant to replace him. I imagine the same approach will be used tomorrow night to handle Cardinals receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown, and A.J. Green, as Rondale Moore is also reportedly out for Week 14.
The absence of Wynn, a starting tackle, is troubling for the Patriots, as their other starting tackle Trent Brown and backup tackle Yodny Cajuste are both listed as questionable heading into the week. The only tackle on the depth chart with no injury designation is Conor McDermott. Backup linemen James Ferentz and undrafted rookie Kody Russey are also available and starting guard Michael Onwenu could potentially kick out to tackle in an emergency.
Here are a few more injury rumors from around the conference, all concerning signal-callers in the AFC:
The Ravens started third-year quarterback Tyler Huntley in place of an injured Lamar Jackson today against the Steelers. The team called up practice squad quarterback, and undrafted rookie, Anthony Brown as a standard gameday elevation in case of emergency, and emergency struck when Huntley left the game in concussion protocol after a brutal blow from Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Brown wasn’t asked to do much but held on to the Ravens lead in a 16-14 win over the team’s division rival. Head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that Brown would be playing next Sunday against the Browns if Huntley is unavailable but seemed to think Huntley will be just fine, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “He seems good to me. He’s reciting the months of the year backwards,” Harbaugh quipped with reporters. “Can you do that right now?”
Jets quarterback Mike White took a pounding today during a loss to the Bills in which Buffalo’s defense racked up eight quarterback hits and four sacks. White left the game twice after receiving shots to the ribs. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco entered in place of White, but, both times, White returned to play and eventually finished a close game in Buffalo. Head coach Robert Saleh informed reporters that White was headed to the hospital after the game for precautionary checks, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. A follow-up provided that White did rejoin the team in time for the flight home after finishing up at the hospital, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. The quarterback situation next week will be something to keep an eye on. If starting quarterbacks Zach Wilson and White remain on the injury report, Flacco could earn his fourth start of the year and his first since September. Flacco would be set to face off against the Lions next week, a team he has never lost to in three matchups over 15 years in the league.
Another quarterback who took a beating today, Broncos signal-caller Russell Wilson was knocked out of today’s loss to the Chiefs with a concussion, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Wilson’s day was even more brutal than White’s as the Chiefs defense accounted for six sacks and 11 quarterback hits. Broncos third-year backup quarterback Brett Rypien would enter for Wilson and attempt to mount a comeback against the division rival Chiefs, falling just short when he was hit while throwing on the team’s final drive resulting in a duck of a pass that fluttered down into the waiting arms of Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Since the loss today officially eliminated the Broncos from postseason contention, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Denver give its quarterback a rest, not rushing Wilson back to play for little-to-no reason. Wilson may be eager to return, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Rypien took the team the rest of the way.
Last week’s Jets quarterback change may not be a long-term move, per Robert Saleh, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes the expectation is Mike White will keep his new gig against the Vikings and Bills over the next two weeks. White faring reasonably well against those upper-echelon teams could keep Zach Wilson out of the picture for a while.
The Jets have assembled a quality defense quicker than most expected. After ranking last in both total defense and scoring last season, the Jets are a top-five team in both categories in Saleh’s second season. Their defense sits fourth in DVOA, creating legitimate playoff aspirations for the first time since 2015. The Jets have a chance to snap the NFL’s longest playoff drought (11 seasons), leading Saleh to yank Wilson. That move is atypical for a player with Wilson’s draft pedigree and injects uncertainty into the Jets’ quarterback plans beyond 2022.
No quarterback selected in the top five has been benched for performance reasons before the end of his second season since the Bengals sat down 1999 No. 3 overall pick Akili Smith midway through the 2000 campaign. Wilson being shut down represents an obvious red flag about his future. Will the Jets be able to pivot back to last year’s No. 2 overall pick?
QBR places Wilson in 25th, actually two spots ahead of Aaron Rodgers, after the BYU product finished 30th in this metric as a rookie. Passer rating is far less kind; no starter checks in behind Wilson’s 72.6 mark there. Joe Flacco remains the Jets’ touchdown pass leader, with five, despite having exited after three starts to clear another path for Wilson. The Jets used a top-three pick on a quarterback twice in a four-year span, but while Sam Darnold was not holding a well-built defense back, Wilson was. Rumblings of teammates’ waning confidence in the fast-rising prospect surfacing this past offseason certainly open the door to the Jets needing to consider other options for 2023.
White torched a battered Bears secondary, doing so more than a year after he posted the first Jets’ 400-yard passing performance since Vinny Testaverde in 2000. The former Cowboys fifth-round pick has been with the Jets since 2019, initially landing a practice squad gig, and has enjoyed spurts of popularity over the past two seasons. The Jets demoted Flacco for the ex-Day 3 draftee earlier this season. White’s next two performances will help illustrate if the Jets can legitimately consider him for their 2023 starting gig. White, 27, will need to be re-signed next year. His putting together more quality starts will complicate that process for the Jets.
Saleh and OC Mike LaFleur‘s San Francisco ties create a natural path for Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the 49ers cannot retain via the franchise tag due to the sides’ August restructure. Then committed to Wilson, the Jets were not closely linked to Garoppolo during this year’s long-running (and ultimately fruitless) trade sweepstakes, but this could easily become a much-rumored landing spot for the ex-Patriots second-rounder. Will the 49ers, however, be so quick to move on and give the keys back to the largely untested Trey Lance?
A veteran deal would mean cutting into the advantage Wilson’s rookie contract creates, but if Wilson cannot do enough to stay on the field, the Jets need to regroup to capitalize on the defense they have built. The Broncos took this route in 2018, which would have been No. 26 overall pick Paxton Lynch‘s third season. Denver waived the first-round bust months after signing Case Keenum.
The Raiders have not lived up to expectations in Josh McDaniels‘ first season, and the second-chance HC — who is likely to return for another season — has a slim window to unload Derek Carr‘s three-year, $121.4MM contract. Three days after Super Bowl LVII, Carr is owed $40.5MM — his 2023 salary and $7.5MM of his 2024 base — creating an avenue for a trade. The Jets would need to act swiftly, and it would wall off a Garoppolo path a month before it could open. But Carr could be available ahead of his age-32 season, should McDaniels want a fresh start.
On the other end of the timing spectrum, Rodgers could conceivably be available next summer. While Rodgers trade speculation has ultimately provided endless content and no action, the Packers structured his record-setting $50.3MM-per-year contract to include a 2023 option bonus ($58.3MM) that can be paid out at any point from the start of the 2023 league year to the day before next season. It would cost the Packers only $15.8MM in dead money, per OverTheCap, to trade the contract after June 1. The Jets would be making a familiar move, trading for a future Hall of Fame Packers QB in his late 30s, but this scenario will undoubtedly be mentioned. Rodgers, who backtracked on his trade demand in 2021 and passed on leaving Green Bay this year, does not have a no-trade clause.
For the first time since 2016, they are not poised to have a top-12 pick. What other options would be available for Gang Green? The Seahawks are aiming to re-sign ex-JetGeno Smith, while Daniel Jones hopping New York teams seems unlikely as well. Gardner Minshew and brief Jet Teddy Bridgewater are also slated to hit the market. Tom Brady, as it should be at least noted, is also due for free agency. If the Lions land their QB prospect in the draft, Jared Goff stands to be available. As this year’s quarterback carousel showed, more options could be on the table.
Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on this unusual situation in the comments section.
In the wake of his decision to bench quarterback Zach Wilson, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said that he intends to reinsert Wilson into the starting lineup at some point this season. But as Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports writes, Wilson is unlikely to return to the field before Week 15 (barring injury), and if the team remains in playoff contention with Mike White under center, Wilson can probably expect to stay on the sidelines for the rest of the year.
Joe Flacco, who started the first three games of the 2022 campaign while Wilson was battling knee trouble, will serve as White’s backup for Sunday’s Week 12 matchup with the Bears, so he will get the nod if White should get injured during the Chicago contest. If White sustains a lingering injury while New York remains in the playoff hunt, Saleh could be faced with a difficult Flacco vs. Wilson decision, one that he would obviously prefer to avoid.
Like Jones, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says that White will remain the QB1 if the Jets are winning with him under center. A successful run from White would be a boon to Gang Green’s playoff chances this year, though Cimini believes it would also complicate the team’s offseason plans. Wilson has yet to start more than seven games in a row in his young career, and at this point, it’s probably premature to write off his chances to become a legitimate NFL starter. Still, the 6-4 Jets are looking to solidify their status as contenders for the foreseeable future, and they need to know if Wilson will be part of that future or if they need to begin looking elsewhere.
New York may also need to make a decision on offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur this offseason. As Cimini writes, Wilson’s struggles are LaFleur’s struggles, and Saleh’s express acknowledgement of Wilson’s deteriorating mechanics is not a good look for LaFleur or quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese.
“I truly believe it starts with me and ends with me, so I’ve got to figure out a way to reset [Wilson], get him back to playing fundamentally sound football and, more importantly, just consistent football, because he’s done some really good things,” LaFleur said. “But I haven’t done a good enough job to get the consistency out of him. So that starts and ends with me.”
According to Jones, the team believes Wilson has turned an emotional corner, as evidenced by the apologies he recently issued to his teammates. Whether or not he has the chance to reestablish himself on the field this year will depend in large part on White’s performance in the coming weeks.
A hit near the end of the first half in the Jets’ 23-6 loss in Seattle provided a setback for White, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports the veteran backup-turned-starter is dealing with four broken ribs (Twitter link). White had attempted to play through this issue this week, but Robert Saleh said an end-of-half blow became a major issue (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, on Twitter) henceforth. Set to close out his age-37 season, Joe Flacco will receive the call against the Dolphins.
