One dozen quarterbacks — including 2 favorites — who could be the Jets’ next starter

One year ago, the Jets went into free agency with the goal of securing Justin Fields as their next quarterback. Their only real competition for his services was the Pittsburgh Steelers. So when free agency kicked off, the Jets offered Fields $40 million over two years — with not only $30 million guaranteed, but a starting job guaranteed as well.

It was what Fields wanted. It was whom the Jets wanted. It didn’t work out.

So the Jets are going back to the drawing board this offseason. They spent last week in Indianapolis surveying the field, trying to figure out who will be available in free agency (including ones who might be cut by their current teams) and who might be available in a trade (and what their price tags are). Not only that: The Jets needed — and still need — to figure out which of their potential targets would actually want to sign with them.

It’s not the best offseason to need a starting quarterback, especially once projected No. 2 pick Dante Moore opted to return to Oregon. The Jets did not have a predetermined No. 1 target when they arrived at the combine. They likely have a better idea now, but they’re still waiting on teams to make official decisions on potential cap casualties. The negotiating window for free agency opens Monday, and free agency officially begins Wednesday.

The best options for the Jets, frankly, are currently on other rosters. So whom will they land on?

Here’s a look at who I believe is most likely to be joining the Jets this offseason — not necessarily a prediction of who will be joining them.

Probably not happening

This exercise is, in some ways, a process of elimination. So before we get to the most likely candidates, let’s cross some off the list.

These are the quarterbacks I’m certain will not be Jets in 2026:

• Aaron Rodgers, free agent
• Zach Wilson, free agent
• Russell Wilson, free agent

Next, the quarterbacks I’m fairly certain won’t be Jets in 2026:

• Fernando Mendoza, NFL Draft prospect
• Justin Fields, Jets
• Jameis Winston, Giants
• Daniel Jones, Colts

These are the quarterback draft prospects who could be options in the Rounds 1-4 range — but it would be surprising if any of them were starting in Week 1:

• Ty Simpson, Alabama
• Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
• Drew Allar, Penn State
• Carson Beck, Miami

And these are some young potential additions who could be added to the roster but wouldn’t inspire much confidence if they were serious threats to start in 2026:
• Joe Milton III, Cowboys
• Jalen Milroe, Seahawks
• Sam Howell, free agent

Next up: Veterans who would be ideal No. 2 quarterbacks — or maybe stopgaps for a rookie — but either the quarterback and/or the Jets should have better options elsewhere:

• Joe Flacco, free agent
• Jimmy Garoppolo, free agent
• Marcus Mariota, free agent
• Tyler Huntley, free agent
• Mitchell Trubisky, free agent

This next group I’m calling “young quarterbacks on other rosters who could be worth a flier” — depending on the cost in a trade:

• Spencer Rattler, Saints
• Will Levis, Titans
• Anthony Richardson Sr., Colts
• Tyson Bagent, Bears
• Davis Mills, Texans

This next category is … well, Kirk Cousins, who isn’t expected to have interest in the Jets — and vice versa.

• Kirk Cousins, free agent

The contenders

Now we arrive at the important part of the list. These are the 12 quarterbacks who could reasonably be the Jets’ next starter.

An unlikely trio

First, a group that can’t be entirely ruled out but, at this juncture, I wouldn’t predict landing in New York.

Malik Willis, free agent: He is undoubtedly the most intriguing quarterback to come available this offseason. His tape from last season is tantalizing — he showed impressive mobility, arm strength and command of the Packers’ offense — but there also isn’t much of that tape to go off. He’s started three games in the last two years in relief of Jordan Love. He was stellar in those three games, but that’s the sample size. His tenure with the Titans can pretty much be ignored. So the Jets (and other teams) will have to decide if it’s worth banking significant money ($20 million to $30 million per year most likely) on a lottery ticket. That’s something the Jets just did last year with Fields. The potential for Willis to play somewhere close to this level (his EPA per attempt in 2024-25 would be far and away the best in the NFL if he qualified) is hard to ignore. The Jets would potentially be bidding against at least two teams that have coaches he’s familiar with (Dolphins and Cardinals), which would only drive the price up more.

Mac Jones, 49ers: The way Jones not only kept the 49ers afloat when Brock Purdy was injured but also thrived (ninth in EPA per attempt) was one of the more surprising stories of last season. Everyone is looking for the next Sam Darnold, and there might not be a better candidate than Jones — the 2021 first-round pick disowned by a team in the AFC East only to spend a year with the 49ers before blossoming elsewhere. The difference is Jones played meaningful snaps for the 49ers (Darnold didn’t), and San Francisco astutely signed him to a cheap two-year deal, so they hold his rights. He might be cheap financially ($1.4 million base salary), but he won’t come cheap in a trade: At the combine, multiple league sources said the 49ers are looking for a second-round pick plus more. That’s a lot to give up for a Jets team that needs to replenish its roster with young talent — and with no guarantee that Jones would be the long-term solution.

Tanner McKee, Eagles: He’s been a very popular name tied to the Jets because he fits the size parameters of what offensive coordinator Frank Reich likes in his quarterbacks (6-feet-6, 231 pounds) and Reich’s close relationship with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. McKee is an ideal version of what the Jets should be looking for — a young, unknown quarterback at minimal financial cost with the potential to become something. The problem: The Eagles want too much for him. Zach Berman, one of The Athletic’s Eagles beat writers, suggested a conditional 2027 third-round pick that can become a second, and I just don’t see the Jets paying that much for someone who is such an unknown commodity (88 pass attempts since being drafted in 2023).

Backup-caliber options

I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the quarterbacks in the following group becomes the Jets’ next backup, but they are probably not candidates to be full-time starters.

Jarrett Stidham, Broncos: Everyone in the Broncos’ building is extremely high on Stidham’s capabilities — and general manager Darren Mougey was in that building for Stidham’s first two seasons with Denver (2023 and 2024). He was thrown into an impossible spot in the AFC Championship Game, having not played all season and trying to beat the Patriots in a blizzard — so it wouldn’t be completely fair to judge him based on how he played that day (17 of 31 for 133 yards, one touchdown and one interception). Stidham is 29 and has only four career NFL starts (two with the Raiders in 2022, two with Denver in 2023). In those starts, though, he passed for 1,080 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions — stats that project out to more than 4,500 yards, 25 touchdowns and 17 interceptions over a full season. Mougey knows as much about Stidham as anyone, and he could at least be useful in a training-camp competition with a rookie or another veteran. He’s owed a $5.9 million base salary in 2026, only $2 million of it guaranteed.

Tyrod Taylor, free agent: Taylor is beloved in the Jets locker room and last season showed some flashes of the arm talent that has helped him stick around this long. He still has some mobility, too. As has been the story for his entire career, though, he just can’t stay healthy. He was set to take over for Fields as the starter before going down with a knee injury. When he eventually became the starter last season, he got hurt again, replaced by undrafted rookie Brady Cook. Still, he’s a good veteran to keep around in a room that could include a new starter and a new rookie.

Andy Dalton, Panthers: The 38-year-old has started only seven games over the last three years for the Panthers, though he was solid in his last season as a full-time starter (with the Saints in 2022: 2,871 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 14 games). In those seven Panthers starts, Dalton threw for 1,525 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. The biggest reason to consider him: Reich is installing the offense he used as the Panthers’ coach in 2023. Dalton was on the Panthers that year, and the two had a good relationship — and in Dalton’s lone start before Reich’s firing, he passed for 361 yards and two touchdowns. Dalton’s base salary is $3.9 million ($2 million of it guaranteed). He wouldn’t cost much in a trade.

Carson Wentz, free agent: Things went terribly at the end of Wentz’s tenure with the Colts, when Reich was still the coach, but the two still have a good relationship. And Wentz, by all accounts, has grown quite a bit since he was cast aside by the Eagles, Colts and Commanders in succession. He rebuilt his confidence as a backup with the Chiefs, and then last year showed some grit with the Vikings, playing through a shoulder dislocation. He’ll come cheaply — probably not too far above the minimum — and he actually did have some moments with Minnesota last year before the injury. He passed for 759 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions and completed 69 percent of his passes in his first three games with the Vikings, stats that project out to 4,301 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over a full season. He still shouldn’t be a full-time starter in 2026, but the Jets could do worse for their No. 2.

Making more sense

This next group of three are veterans who make varying degrees of sense.

Kyler Murray, Cardinals: If you had asked me coming out of the NFL combine, Murray would have been my prediction. Especially while he was still on the Cardinals’ roster. I still felt that way as of a couple days ago. Now that Arizona plans on releasing him at the start of free agency, the buzz in league circles has been that he will ultimately land with the Vikings — and the Jets and other teams are operating under that assumption. Nothing is certain until (or unless) Murray signs on the dotted line, and if he were to give the Jets a chance to pitch to him, I think he’d be interested. But as it stands right now, I wouldn’t project him as the Jets’ next quarterback.

Derek Carr, Saints: The Jets wanted Carr in 2023, going so far as to take him out to dinner in Florham Park and pitch him on becoming a Hall of Fame quarterback in New York. (Yes, that really happened.) He probably was going to be the Jets’ QB until Rodgers became a possibility, and so Carr pivoted to play for the Saints. It was a bumpy two years in New Orleans, but Carr remained productive (6,023 yards, 40 touchdowns, 13 interceptions in 27 games) before retiring last offseason. Now he’s ready to un-retire. He says he’d do it only to play for a Super Bowl contender, but not everyone in the league actually believes that stipulation — the feeling is that he simply wants to be a starting quarterback somewhere again.

As of the combine, the Saints weren’t getting a lot of interest (they hold his trade rights, and he has a no-trade clause), but that could change as the quarterback market starts to settle in. Carr is 34 and was often injured and on the decline when he last played in 2024; he’s not an ideal option for a team that should be thinking about the future. But in an offseason without great options, Carr can’t be ruled out — especially since coach Aaron Glenn has known him since he was a kid (Carr used to run around the Texans’ facility when his brother, David, and Glenn played for Houston).

Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: The Jets, per NFL Network, have been doing some work on Tagovailoa, and he might be the realistic option on this list who would anger Jets fans the most. The 28-year-old was at his best early in the Mike McDaniel era, particularly in 2023 when he led the NFL with 4,624 yards and passed for 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Since then, he’s thrown 39 touchdowns and 22 interceptions (15 of them coming in 2025) and wore out his welcome in Miami to such a degree that the Dolphins are likely going to stomach a $99 million cap hit just to rid themselves of him.

And yet … he was good enough, recently enough, to believe he’d be worth taking a shot on, especially considering the minimal cost if he winds up being released by Miami. As recently as 2024, Tagovailoa finished third in EPA per attempt. He’s an accurate, efficient quarterback — he’s completed 68.7 percent of his passes since 2022, the second-best mark in the NFL. He averaged 2.3 seconds to throw in 2024, the fastest in the NFL, and the Jets have a solid offensive line, running back and No. 1 wide receiver. The flip side: Tagovailoa has played in the sunny confines of Hard Rock Stadium for the last six seasons. He’s not a cold-weather quarterback.

The front-runners

And then there were two. These are the two quarterbacks I believe are most likely to be the Jets’ next starter.

Geno Smith, Raiders: This would be a fun reunion — and the possibility becomes real if (or when) the Raiders wind up releasing him, as he carries a $26.5 million salary. Because of offset language, whatever he signs for with his next team would be subtracted from what the Raiders owe him — so he’ll almost certainly sign for a minimum salary.

When Smith does hit the open market, he’ll have interest from teams other than the Jets — the Vikings, for example, if they’re unable to land Murray — but a reunion with the team that drafted him is definitely in play. Smith isn’t coming off his best season (19 touchdowns, 17 interceptions), but the Raiders under Pete Carroll weren’t the best environment, especially considering Chip Kelly’s disastrous stint as offensive coordinator. Smith is a gunslinger who still has something left in the tank — from 2022 to 2024, league-wide, he ranked fourth in yards, eighth in touchdowns, third in completion percentage and first in lowest percentage of off-target throws (7 percent).

Smith left the Jets after the 2016 season. Imagine telling anyone back then he’d return a decade later as a legitimate starting quarterback? It would be quite the story. The ability to sign Smith on the cheap without trading any draft capital makes him especially appealing — doubly since he’s a reasonable bridge quarterback to whomever the Jets eventually dub their quarterback of the future.

Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals: It feels as if the Jets are tied to Brissett every offseason. The previous regime wanted to sign him as a backup on multiple occasions. He also, in many ways, feels like a perfect bridge quarterback for this Jets team in particular. Remove all of his connections to this iteration of the Jets and he’s simply a solid quarterback. He stepped in for Murray last season in Arizona and was prolific. Brissett averaged 280 passing yards per game and threw for 3,366 total yards — the second-most in the NFL from Week 6 onward — along with the third-most touchdowns (23). He finished the season ranked No. 12 in EPA per attempt.

The Jets ties, though, are what’s most notable here. First, there’s Reich: Brissett and Reich were together in Indianapolis from 2018 to 2020, and Brissett was the full-time starter in 2019 (after Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement), when he passed for 2,942 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. Reich said this about Brissett in 2019: “It’s impossible for me to have a higher opinion of Jacoby than I do.”

Then, there’s the other side: Bill Parcells is Brissett’s mentor. Parcells is also Aaron Glenn’s mentor. That’s not nothing.

If there is a reason to doubt the idea of Brissett being the next Jets quarterback, it’s simple: He’s still on the Cardinals’ roster, and they’re not going to simply release him. There have been mixed reports about their interest in trading him — some say he can be acquired for a Day 3 pick, another report from this week said he’s not available at all. Would it be worth trading a fourth-round pick for Brissett if the Jets can, theoretically, simply sign Smith or one of the others hitting the open market? It will be part of their calculus. As will the part where Brissett carries only a $4.8 million base salary.

Ultimately, none of these options are especially appealing. But that’s life in QB purgatory.