PHOENIX — Geno Smith is extensively perceived as a bridge quarterback, a placeholder till the New York Jets determine their long-term resolution within the 2026 or 2027 NFL draft. Coach Aaron Glenn sees him in a distinct gentle.
“I simply really feel like he is the man that is going to steer us to the promised land,” Glenn stated Tuesday morning on the NFL’s annual assembly.
That is fairly a press release, contemplating the Jets had been 3-14 final season and Smith threw a league-high 17 interceptions for the Las Vegas Raiders. However he performed effectively sufficient from 2022 to 1024 with the Seattle Seahawks to make Glenn imagine his just lately acquired starter is able to massive issues.
“Hear, I do know he had his struggles,” Glenn stated. “I feel a number of quarterbacks, they’ve their struggles.
“However I do know this: He understands precisely what occurred final yr. I do not wish to get too far into that as a result of I wasn’t there, clearly, with the Raiders. However I do know that, man, there are some issues that he is aware of he can right. He is at fault on a few of these, however there are some issues that he is aware of that he will get higher at, and I stay up for him doing that.”
The Jets acquired Smith in a low-cost commerce with the Raiders, sending a 2026 sixth-round choose to the Raiders (they obtained a 2027 seventh-rounder in return) and agreeing to pay $3.3 million on his $18.5 million wage. Subsequently, the Jets traded Justin Fields, their 2025 starter, to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs.
With the second and sixteenth picks within the upcoming draft, the Jets might be in place to pick Alabama’s Ty Simpson, the consensus No. 2 quarterback prospect. Or they might wait till 2027, when they are going to have three first-round picks in what is predicted to be a talent-rich quarterback class.
Neither Glenn nor common supervisor Darren Mougey needed to look that far forward. On Monday, Mougey stated the potential expertise within the 2027 draft will not issue into this yr’s draft technique. Glenn stated Smith is “the right man to suit precisely what we’ll do” on offense, now led by new coordinator Frank Reich.
“I feel he will create some harm due to the arm expertise,” Glenn stated. “And, man, he is grown a lot so far as his smarts, so far as IDs, so far as safety and issues like that.”
In three full seasons because the Seattle starter, Smith went 27-22, threw 71 landing passes and averaged 4,075 passing yards per yr. Some perspective: The one Jets quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season was Joe Namath in 1967.
The draw back: Smith had 35 interceptions over his three “good” seasons, third most within the league.
“I nonetheless have a ton of years left on my physique to play this recreation and I wish to proceed to attempt to maximize it,” Smith stated March 12. “And so, I imagine the Jets are getting a greater participant than I used to be in Seattle. I do know that for a reality, actually.”
A yr in the past, the Jets had been all-in on Fields, whom they signed as a free agent. Glenn gushed about him on the NFL annual assembly, assured they might resurrect his profession. Fields struggled mightily and was benched. Glenn stated he does not remorse the choice, insisting Fields is “a superb participant.”
Smith’s first stint with the Jets (2013-16) was turbulent. He misplaced his beginning job in 2015 after he was punched within the face by a teammate in a locker room altercation, leading to a damaged jaw. Smith wasn’t a fan favourite.
Glenn acknowledged that Smith’s historical past in New York was thought-about earlier than the commerce, however he does not imagine it is going to be a “detriment to us a corporation.” He stated Smith expressed a powerful want to return to the Jets — “a full-circle second,” Smith has known as it.
“Clearly, there’s some followers that most likely did not prefer it and I perceive,” Glenn stated. “However I do know there’s some followers that did prefer it. So, hear, he has a recent begin.”
