NFL: The Jets’ 2026 Options at QB Disappear by the Day

• The New York Jets desperately need a new signal-caller, but their 2026 options at quarterback disappear by the day
• As teams prepare for the NFL Draft and free agency, few QBs seem interested in playing for the Jets
• The Jets currently have the worst odds in the league to win Super Bowl LXI
• What do they need to do to change their perception?

Who Has the Worst Super Bowl LXI Odds in the NFL?

The Jets’ Dynasty of Dysfunction

It’s an inescapable irony that the Jets are again in desperate need of a long-term (or short-term) solution at quarterback the same year Sam Darnold, a quarterback they drafted 3rd overall in 2018 and discarded, won a Super Bowl for the Seahawks.

The irony is even thicker that the Patriots, long the bane of the Jets’ existence, rebuilt in a microsecond and reached the Super Bowl where they lost to…Darnold and the Seahawks. It’s in direct contrast to New York’s perpetual rebuild, so frequent and reliable that it’s comparable to the Earth traveling around the Sun as an immutable fact of time and space.

The Jets have not had a winning season since 2015. They have not made the playoffs since 2010. The organization has gone through six coaches, counting Jeff Ulbrich as the interim when owner Woody Johnson fired Robert Saleh. In that time, they’ve had five GMs.

It’s been a revolving door of quarterbacks from the decent (Mark Sanchez) to the solid journeymen (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith), to the forgettable with the generic name (Mike White), to the all-time great (Aaron Rodgers), to the first-round busts (Zach Wilson, Justin Fields), to the newly-crowned Super Bowl champion (Darnold).

Now, there are again several acceptable professional QBs available on the market via trade or free agency. The Jets are picking 2nd overall in the upcoming draft and also have the 16th overall pick from the Colts, acquired for Sauce Gardner. They theoretically should be able to find a QB in the draft, even in a relatively weak class.

Keyword: should.

In the past, they absolutely would.

Now?

They have a problem.

Nobody with options wants to go to the Jets. In fact, they’re doing whatever they can to avoid it.

Pro Players Can Say No…So Can College Players

Veteran QB Derek Carr, whose shoulder injury forced him to leave the Saints, has mused about a comeback. Right off the bat, he’s eliminated a team like the Jets by saying he’ll only return for a Super Bowl contender.

More irony: When the Jets traded for Rodgers, there were some in the organization who preferred Carr, who was on the market and was traded from the Raiders to the Saints.

The other available NFL veterans include the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, veteran former Jet Joe Flacco, the Packers’ Malik Willis, old friend Geno Smith, the 49ers’ Mac Jones, the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, and the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins.

An advantage for the Jets is that there are too many QBs out there for all of them to be fussy and demand a starting job in an agreeable location where they can win immediately.

Some are in a position to say no. Jones doesn’t need to take a step back after rejuvenating his image, filling in for Brock Purdy. Flacco doesn’t need the beating he’d take. Willis will be in too heavy demand. But Tua, Murray, and Cousins would presumably welcome the chance to walk in as the starter designate.

In the draft, the Raiders are expected to take Fernando Mendoza 1st overall.

Oregon’s Dante Moore announced that he is returning to college amid the presumption that he doesn’t want to go to the Jets.

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss fought for a sixth year of college eligibility and is apparently going to get it. He doesn’t seem to want to go to the Jets either.

Before NIL money, the players were paid under the table. They had nice cars, jewelry, and various luxuries. But that wasn’t life-changing money. Now, they stay in college to earn that money in full view, transferring to different schools, seeking extra years of eligibility, and waiting out a good situation in the pros.

It’s not a rival pro league, but it does give them the wherewithal to say no to a team like the Jets hoping for a better option.

Why Are the Jets Here?

Owner Woody Johnson undoubtedly wants to win. He spends money freely and tries to make the fans happy.

However, in his 25 years as owner, it’s been a general mess from the time Bill Belichick resigned as “HC of the NYJ” and went to New England to become an icon, to the past 15 years in which he’s made haphazard changes never sticking to any plan long enough to give it a chance to work.

Aaron Glenn’s coaching staff was rightfully mocked last year for some of his ludicrous statements and behaviors. Johnson resisted the urge to fire Glenn after one year.

Irony 4: He would have been justified in doing so and didn’t in the face of fan and media rage and the unprecedented number of star coaches available. The one time he probably should have had a quick trigger, he didn’t.

This is indicative of Belichick’s comment about how Johnson operates: “ready, fire, aim.”

Worse, what QB is going to walk into this knowing he’s likely to get the same treatment Fields got with objectively true comments that it was asinine for an owner to say publicly?

It’s reasonable to ask why he’s doing this.

Some owners buy a team as a bauble to lord over their similarly wealthy buddies on the golf course and at cocktail parties. Others treat it as a business. The Patriots’ Bob Kraft is a case study to see how an organization should be run.

But Woody is never going to change because he doesn’t need to. Sure, he’d like to win a championship, but his fortune isn’t contingent on having a successful football franchise. He’s not a businessman. He’s an heir, a rich guy who didn’t need to do anything to find the money to buy the team. If the Jets eventually do win, it will be through the stars finally aligning for a star-crossed franchise and not because they put a blueprint in place and saw it through.

Still, a veteran QB hungry for a starting job will join the Jets. The organization hired a respected OC in Frank Reich, who might have taken the job, in part, because he’s the immediate favorite to take over if Woody fires Glenn by Columbus Day, as he might.

They have amassed a wealth of draft capital. They cleared payroll and have around $90 million in cap space.

Regardless, until they show they are a viable, professionally-run franchise without the owner saying and doing stupid things, players will go there for two reasons: Because they have no alternatives, or the Jets offered them above-and-beyond money.

Right now, even that might not be enough.

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