Who Will Be the Starting QB for the New York Jets in 2026?
Every season, each NFL team has a big question mark at certain positions. Some question marks are bigger than others and are more prevalent in certain areas. For example, the Ravens have been in dire need of offensive line help and believe they found their answer at guard in Vega Ioane. Baltimore also addressed their yearly need for edge pressure with the acquisition of Trey Hendrickson and the drafting of an edge rusher in the second round of consecutive drafts. While those two positions are at the top of lists for a lot of teams, there is a position that seems to be a difficult position to fill for some franchises. It seems that each year, there is a new conversation about the same topic that should not be asked. Who will be the starting QB for the New York Jets in 2026?
History
If anyone remembers the New York Jets QB history, it is not because of their outstanding performances, but rather the media narrative that surrounded them, or the poor production. Since winning Super Bowl III over the Colts in the 1968 season, the Jets have made the playoffs 13 times, somehow avoiding the postseason each year since losing the AFC Championship in 2010. 2009 first-round pick Mark Sanchez gave the Jets the most hope, bringing the team to back-to-back Conference Championships in 2009 and 2010, but promptly fell off in 2011 and 2012, putting the Jets in a spot to draft another QB. Since 2000, the Jets have drafted seven QBs in the first two rounds, three of whom were in the top five of the entire draft. As for the rest of the drafts since 2000, the Jets have drafted four QBs in the fourth round, two in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the seventh. New York finds themselves in another QB situation after the failed experiments of Sam Darnold, Zach Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Justin Fields. Below are the four QBs that are currently rostered that could potentially be the Week One starter for the Jets, and an external option that could be pursued.
Brady Cook
Signed to the Jets as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 NFL Draft, Brady Cook entered the season as QB3 with the Jets behind Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. Cook was waived and signed to the practice squad. The Jets had just given Fields a three-year deal, thinking the former Bear could take his signs of potential and translate them to success with a new team. However, with the carousel of injuries and poor performance between Fields and Taylor, it left head coach Aaron Glenn to elevate Cook in December, relieving Taylor in Week 14 and starting the final four games, losing all four. The former Missouri Tiger threw two touchdowns and seven interceptions in his five appearances. Granted, in the final weeks, the Jets were fielding a WR corps of Adonai Mitchell, John Metchie, and Allen Lazard, so the 2025 UDFA had zero help outside of Breece Hall and fellow rookie TE Mason Taylor. The Jets immediately addressed the needs of offensive playmakers by drafting WR Omar Cooper Jr. and TE Kenyon Sadiq, both in the first round of 2026. As I will say plenty of times in this article, it will be an ongoing QB battle, but Cook should be relegated to a backup role to learn under a veteran who has seen more playing time and moderate success. That QB is none other than Geno Smith.
Geno Smith… Again
You heard me correctly, Geno Smith is a New York Jet. It flew under the radar with the narrative of the draft leading headlines for the past month and a half, but the Seahawks traded Smith and a seventh-round pick to the Jets for a sixth-round selection, marking a return to the team that drafted him in the second round in 2013. The former WVU Mountaineer struggled when he was on the Jets, bounced around to a few different teams before landing with the Seahawks in May of 2019. Smith was cut, but re-signed, earning the backup job behind Russell Wilson until Wilson was traded to Denver prior to the 2022 NFL Season. In 2022, the Florida native threw for a then-career-high 4,200 yards and 30 touchdowns, earning Comeback Player of the Year and his first of two Pro Bowl nominations. This resulted in a new three-year deal. It was short-lived, as before the 2025 season, the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold and traded Smith to the Raiders, extending his contract by another two years. Geno played awfully in his time in the black and silver, but fans in Vegas won’t complain, as it got them Indiana’s National Champion QB Fernando Mendoza. I predict that Smith will begin training camp with first-team reps as a measure of respect, considering the other rostered QBs do not have the experience or accolades, no matter how many compared to the journeyman quarterback. Whether the 35-year-old starts Week One depends on how the newest Jet performs in the rookie minicamp and the following offseason activities.
Cade Klubnik
Drafted in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the New York Jets selected former Clemson QB Cade Klubnik. This QB draft class was extremely thin, but the Jets needed some youth to compete in the QB room. The fourth-round pick is just one of five QBs in Clemson history to start 40 or more games for the Tigers, throwing for more than 10,000 yards, a career completion percentage of 64%, 73 touchdowns and 24 interceptions, adding 369 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground. While the Tigers only made the College Football Playoffs in 2024 and lost in the first round, Klubnik was still able to produce four seasons with winning records. He is not as ready as other names like Mendoza, but Klubnik can spend the next few months and maybe years learning and honing his mechanics to develop and potentially start for the Jets, assuming Smith, Cook, and this next entry are unable to elevate the Jets to true playoff contention in the AFC East.
Bailey Zappe
The last rostered QB for the Jets is Bailey Zappe, who hasn’t seen any NFL action since 2024. The former Patriot, Brown, and Chief spent second stints with the latter two teams with no on-field appearances, but earned a future/reserve contract with the Jets. This contract decision dictates that Zappe is at the bottom of the pre-training camp depth chart and is at-risk of being released, but the Jets should not worry, as there is little money tied up in Zappe’s contract, especially compared to the other shot-callers on the roster. The former Western Kentucky Hilltopper is most likely known for throwing an interception in Cleveland’s 2024 season finale against the Ravens to 355-pound nose tackle Michael Pierce, who retired just two months later. Zappe could find himself on the practice squad, but again, it is hard to see someone with little to no success and no financial burden to the team be kept around unless the former fourth-rounder shows them a reason to.
Anyone Else?
While the Jets could keep these four quarterbacks and make a decision from there, there is one option that people keep forgetting about: Anthony Richardson Sr. Richardson was drafted in the first round in 2023 by the Colts, having plenty of opportunities, but suffered a handful of injuries that derailed the trajectory of his career. The Colts took a shot on former New York Giant Daniel Jones, and it worked out, earning ‘Danny Dimes’ a transition tag extension, holding him in Indy until after 2027. As we are seeing with all 2023 first-round picks, it is time to accept or decline the fifth-year option, and the Colts declined that $26 million option for Richardson on April 30th. Since the University of Florida alum already requested a trade, the Jets could make a trade with a late-round draft pick and give Richardson a one-year trial shot competing with Smith, Cook, Klubnik, and Zappe for a really cheap rookie contract price. There are other options in free agency and contracted backups, but Richardson, who is by far the youngest of the free agent quarterbacks, has the most to prove in this contract year if he wants to continue playing in the NFL.
