PHOENIX — Aaron Glenn has some lofty expectations for Geno Smith.
The Jets coach spoke at the NFL’s annual meeting Tuesday and expressed a lot of confidence in his new starting quarterback.
“I just feel like he’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land,” Glenn said.
What the promised land is can be open to interpretation, but it seems like big talk for a coach coming off a 3-14 season and a quarterback who led the NFL with 17 interceptions last season while with the Raiders.
Glenn said he believes the Jets can help Smith be more successful than he was last year in Las Vegas because of what they have on offense. Glenn pointed to their offensive line, their running game and star receiver Garrett Wilson as elements that can help Smith be successful.
“There’s something about a quarterback with a chip on his shoulder,” Glenn said. “He’s proven a lot in this league, especially when you take the time when he was in Seattle. He fits exactly what we’re trying to do. … I think he’s a perfect guy to do exactly what we’re going to do, especially when we can run the ball the way that we can run it. Now, be able to add some play action. I think he’s perfect for that.”
Geno Smith with the Jets in 2016. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Smith had strong seasons with the Seahawks in 2022 and 2023 but has regressed statistically since then. Last year with the Raiders he had 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He was sacked a league-high 55 times behind a bad Raiders offensive line. The Jets shipped a 2026 sixth-round pick to Vegas in exchange for Smith and a 2027 seventh-rounder. They are paying him only $3.3 million, with the Raiders paying the rest of his $18.5 million
“I know he had his struggles and I think a lot of quarterbacks, they have their struggles,” Glenn said. “If you look at over the last five years the guys who have thrown the most interceptions, I mean the top guys are up there. I do know this. He understands exactly what happened last year. I don’t want to get too far into that because I wasn’t there, obviously, with the Raiders. There’s some things that he knows he can play and he has he’s at fault from some of those but there’s some things that he knows he’s going to get better at and I look forward to him doing that.”
This is a return for Smith to the team that drafted him in the second round in 2013. His first stint with the Jets is not remembered fondly by fans and there has been a negative reaction to the team bringing Smith back. Glenn said they did consider Smith’s history with the Jets before making the trade.
“Those things you always weigh,” Glenn said. “To me at the end of the day I didn’t think it would be a detriment to us as an organization, to the fans. Obviously there’s some fans that probably didn’t like it and I understand, but I know there’s some fans that did like it.”
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn at the NFL combine on Feb. 24, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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Glenn said he appreciates that Smith wants to be with the Jets.
“He has a fresh start and I look forward to what he’s going to offer,” Glenn said. “Because he really, really wants this. And just going through the process of getting the quarterback, that was something that stood out. He wants to be here. And when you have guys that really want to be here, want to be Jets, that only makes it better.”
Some view Smith’s struggles with the Raiders last year as a product of playing behind a terrible offensive line. He was under constant pressure and struggled with it. The Jets have used their last two first-round picks on tackles Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou and feel good about their line giving Smith time.
“We do have a good line. I look forward to seeing him operate behind that line,” Glenn said. “I really do. I think he’s going to create some damage because of the arm talent and man, he’s grown so much as far as his smarts, as far as IDs, as far as protection and things like that.
“You watch him and you see that man, he’s controlling everything. And that was the one thing that really stuck out.”