For the second year in a row at the NFL Honors, Jets owner Woody Johnson has made it known the team is in the quarterback market.
Last year in Arizona, Johnson noted how the team was looking for an upgrade at the position and more or less began the flirtatious offseason with Aaron Rodgers. This time around, in Las Vegas, Johnson is now pointing to needing a backup quarterback because “We didn’t have one last year.”
The Jets went all-in on Rodgers but stuck with Zach Wilson as their No. 2 quarterback. Four plays into the season, Wilson was right back as the No. 1 quarterback. Between benchings and injuries, the Jets ultimately started four quarterbacks during the season — Rodgers, Wilson, Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian.
With a chance to add a quarterback at the trade deadline before Week 9, the Jets stood pat. New York would go 3-7 down the stretch, leading to a second straight 7-10 finish to the season and a 13th consecutive season without a trip to the playoffs.
Johnson also came as close to saying 2024 is playoffs or bust without actually saying 2024 is playoffs or bust.
“The discussions I’ve had in the last couple of months, they’ve seen me about as mad as I can be, with what was going on with the offense particularly,” Johnson said, via the New York Post. “We’ve got all this talent and we’ve got to deploy talent properly. I think they all got the message. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year. We have to produce this year.
It’s not a playoff-mandate, but we have to do a lot better than seven games,” Johnson said. “We have to do a lot better than seven games. We have to definitely.”
Names such as Jacoby Brissett and Ryan Tannehill could be among those that could be brought in to backup Rodgers. Wilson is more likely than not to be traded this offseason.
The gang is all returning in 2024. It has to happen for the Jets next season. If not, no one is returning in 2025.