{"id":756863,"date":"2026-02-16T22:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T22:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/756863\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T22:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T22:21:37","slug":"what-are-the-new-york-jets-quarterback-options-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/756863\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are the New York Jets Quarterback Options for 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"

32 quarterbacks have started<\/a> a game for the New York Jets in the past 15 years.<\/p>\n

The Justin Fields<\/a> experiment failed, and Brady Cook<\/a> doesn\u2019t look like a short or long-term answer. With nearly 100% certainty, the Jets will trot out quarterback number 33 come Week 1 of the 2026 season. That begs the question of who will be taking the snaps come the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n

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Free Agents<\/p>\n

The 2026 free agent options at quarterback range from unproven to old. Daniel Jones<\/a>, the premier option, has a strong possibility of being franchise-tagged<\/a>. This leaves New York with few long-term options in the free agency pool.<\/p>\n

The Jets have the option to re-sign Tyrod Taylor<\/a>, but they could also take a shot at some other veteran quarterbacks. Marcus Mariota<\/a> was serviceable during his time with the Washington Commanders and could serve as a mentor to anyone New York may draft. Joe Flacco<\/a> is an option to bring back as the 41-year-old was exciting this past year while playing for the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n

Taking an older quarterback would leave the Jets an easy road for taking a quarterback in one of the next two drafts. A QB like Flacco or Mariota wouldn\u2019t be expected to carry the team to new heights. A more tenured free agent pickup at the position would merely act as either a mentor or a stopgap until a long-term answer could be found.<\/p>\n

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Paying Malik Willis<\/a> could be a more aggressive play for a team that is looking for a franchise QB. Willis has been a serviceable backup for the Green Bay Packers for the past couple of years. Willis had a 145.5 passer rating last year, to go along with six total touchdowns over three games played.<\/p>\n

The former third-round pick would be a moderate cost<\/a>, and expectations wouldn\u2019t be too high. A decent cost plus the possibility of Willis becoming a bona fide starter in the NFL is something worth taking a crack at.<\/p>\n

Trade Candidates\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

If New York is looking to figure out the quarterback situation this year, a trade looks like the only way to go about it. Sam Darnold<\/a> and Baker Mayfield<\/a> have shown that players can find success after bouncing around. Kyler Murray<\/a>, Jacoby Brissett<\/a>, and Mac Jones<\/a> are options, as none of them seems to be in the plans for their respective teams\u2019 futures.<\/p>\n

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Kyler Murray is a former number one pick of the draft who will likely be on the trade market. Murray has had spells of looking elite, but hasn\u2019t had a winning season<\/a> since 2021. The Arizona Cardinals\u2019 QB would bring a dual-threat skill set to a team devoid of weapons. This makes Murray an interesting candidate to trade for, with the ability to change games with his legs in addition to his arm.<\/p>\n

Jacoby Brissett took over for Kyler Murray in Arizona this year after Murray\u2019s injury. The journeyman couldn\u2019t win many games, but filled up the stat sheet in his time at the helm for the Cardinals. Brissett also has ties to the new Jets\u2019 offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, from their time with the Indianapolis Colts. Brissett could bring offensive competence while keeping the Jets alive for a top pick in 2027.<\/p>\n

Mac Jones is the youngest option for the Jets in a trade situation. The former Patriot first-rounder spent this past year with the San Francisco 49ers under head coach Kyle Shanahan. Jones went 5-3 in his starting opportunities this year despite a depleted 49er roster.<\/p>\n

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After Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl two years after his time in San Francisco, Jones could be the quarterback who yields the best results if traded for.<\/p>\n

Draft Options<\/p>\n

Quarterback is not the strong suit of the 2026 NFL Draft. This doesn\u2019t mean the Jets won\u2019t take a shot to find the field general of the future. No QB other than Fernando Mendoza<\/a> is a clear first-round talent. There are, however, some interesting options the Jets could look at throughout the draft.<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson<\/a> looks to be the second signal caller people expect to come off the board. Simpson had high expectations during this past season. He started hot, even being projected to be a top 10 pick, but his performance fell off toward the tail end of the season. The Jets could take him at 16 or in the second round if they think he can be the guy for them.<\/p>\n

Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> was another prospect with top-10 grades. He was dropped due to injuries in his final season at LSU. Nussmeier gained attention again after a standout performance at the Senior Bowl.<\/p>\n

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The Jets would likely be able to pick up the more experienced QB later in the draft than Ty Simpson. If Nussmeier comes in the second round or later, the Jets could have a bargain pick that pays dividends.<\/p>\n

In an underwhelming offseason for quarterbacks, the New York Jets have a lot of options to choose from.<\/p>\n

The post What Are the New York Jets Quarterback Options for 2026?<\/a> appeared first on The Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"32 quarterbacks have started a game for the New York Jets in the past 15 years. The Justin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[375,390,1842,2723,256,2772,7,1802,345,392,7523,226,562,493,4827,5215,4097,11695,1917,255,2321,2097,6,1257,1878,1161,252,796,20708,11863,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-756863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-baker-mayfield","11":"tag-brady-cook","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","13":"tag-daniel-jones","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-garrett-nussmeier","16":"tag-green-bay-packers","17":"tag-indianapolis-colts","18":"tag-jacoby-brissett","19":"tag-jets","20":"tag-joe-flacco","21":"tag-justin-fields","22":"tag-kyler-murray","23":"tag-mac-jones","24":"tag-malik-willis","25":"tag-marcus-mariota","26":"tag-new-york","27":"tag-new-york-jets","28":"tag-newyork","29":"tag-newyorkjets","30":"tag-nfl","31":"tag-quarterback","32":"tag-sam-darnold","33":"tag-san-francisco","34":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","35":"tag-the-jets","36":"tag-ty-simpson","37":"tag-tyrod-taylor","38":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116082644671268327","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}