After enduring a painful 3-14 season, the Jets are looking for a franchise quarterback.

But it will not be Dante Moore.

The 20-year-old Oregon quarterback announced on Wednesday that he was returning to school for his redshirt junior season. This puts the Jets in a conundrum for several reasons.

The Raiders will hold the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after finishing with the same record as the Jets, based on strength of schedule. They are expected to select Indiana quarterback and 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, assuming he declares for the draft following Monday’s national championship.

The Jets will have the No. 2 overall pick, but they find themselves in the unenviable position. There isn’t a quarterback worth selecting that high, and Alabama’s Ty Simpson could be the only other quarterback drafted in the first round.

Even if the Jets didn’t want to draft Moore, they could have traded the pick to a team that might have wanted to move up. Instead, they will have to look at other quarterback options in a year in which the free agent class at the position is not great.

The Jets were in the same boat last year, which led them to sign Justin Fields to a two-year, $40 million contract. But after his lifeless play through nine games, in which he was 2-7, benched, and criticized by owner Woody Johnson, the Jets are expected to release Fields this offseason.

Let’s analyze the Jets’ options for finding a signal-caller this offseason.

FREE AGENCY OR TRADE

There aren’t a lot of reasons for optimism for the Jets after missing the playoffs for 15 consecutive seasons. They also haven’t registered a winning record since 2015.

However, the Jets are projected to have around $90 million in salary cap space, according to Spotrac. The bad news is that the free agent class of quarterbacks is just as weak as this year’s draft class.

Marcus Mariota, Daniel Jones, Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Garoppolo, Mitchell Trubisky, and Malik Willis are among the players who will be in free agency.

Willis is the most appealing name among this group. But he has started just six games between his time with the Titans and Packers. He was outstanding during his Week 17 loss to the Ravens after Packers starter Jordan Love suffered a concussion. The question the Jets have to ask themselves is: do they risk taking a chance on another quarterback who failed with one team and give him an enormous contract like Fields’?

Another option would be to trade some draft picks for Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray. The Cardinals are expected to move on from Murray after he played just five games due to a foot injury. Other quarterback trade options could include Anthony Richardson, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. But it remains to be seen if any of those players, who are backups, would drastically improve the Jets in a year in which many will place Aaron Glenn on the hot seat.

DRAFT SIMPSON OR ANOTHER QB

The good news is the Jets currently have 10 draft picks, including two first-round picks (No. 2 and No. 16) and two second-round picks (No. 33 and No. 44). However, as with the 2025 draft, the quarterback choices are slim.

If the Jets are going to draft one in the first round, all roads lead back to Simpson. In November, Simpson appeared to be a lock to be one of the first quarterbacks selected in the draft. But after struggling in three of his last five games, including the Rose Bowl loss to Indiana, opinions on Simpson appear mixed.

The biggest worry when evaluating Simpson is his lack of a body of work. He started just 15 games this season at Alabama after sitting behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe for three seasons. That is a low number for a potential first-round pick.

Simpson, in his lone season as Alabama’s starter, threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

Other quarterbacks who have been drafted in the first round with 15 or fewer starts since 2010 include Cam Newton, Dwayne Haskins, Anthony Richardson, and Trubisky. Only Newton had a successful NFL career and he started 12 games in junior college at Blinn after transferring from Florida.

Simpson has excellent awareness, fearlessness, and poise inside the pocket. He remains calm under pressure and has a high IQ, enabling him to know where to throw the ball consistently. But his worst decision-making comes when under duress. He is athletically limited compared to Mendoza, who is a pocket passer who can also escape the pocket.

The Jets won’t likely use the second overall pick on Simpson. But they could draft him at No. 16 and sit him behind a bridge quarterback. If the Jets aren’t fans of Simpson, Miami’s Carson Beck or Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss could be Day 2 options.

PUNT ON DRAFTING A QB THIS YEAR

A year ago, many looked at the 2026 draft class and thought it could be the best in recent memory. That certainly wasn’t the case, but the 2027 crop of quarterbacks looks tremendous on paper, that is.

Moore, Texas’ Arch Manning, USC’s Jayden Maiava, LSU’s Sam Leavitt, Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, and Indiana’s Josh Hoover are among the names expected to be high draft picks. Obviously, that may not be the case, as anything can happen over the next 12 months. But only three or four of these players will likely be first-round selections.

The problem with punting on drafting a quarterback this offseason is that Glenn may not survive another horrible season with the Jets. They lost their last five games of the season, 188-54, with Brady Cook as the Jets’ starting quarterback.

If the Jets do not take a quarterback at No. 2, which is expected at this point, they could take the best available player in the draft. That would likely be Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese or Texas Tech pass rusher David Bailey.

“We don’t expect to have another season like this,” Glenn said at his end-of-season press conference last week.

But can he guarantee that? The Jets need 11 or 12 starters on both sides of the ball. That doesn’t include running back Breece Hall, who will be an unrestricted free agent in March if they do not place the franchise tag on him.

The Jets at least need to draft a quarterback for development purposes. It doesn’t have to be in Round 1, but they made a mistake last year when they didn’t draft one at all. After Fields and Tyrod Taylor were injured, all they were left with was an undrafted rookie free agent to start games late in the season.

The pressure is on Glenn, Johnson, and general manager Darren Mougey to show dramatic improvement in 2026. Otherwise, the Jets could have not only a new quarterback in 2027 but also a new coach.