The Jets added to their quarterback room, signing veteran Josh Johnson. New York waived linebacker Brendan White in a corresponding move.
Johnson hasn’t seen a regular season snap in the NFL since 2018 when he played four games with Washington, but he did play in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football and the XFL, as well as two brief stints with the Lions and 49ers, since then. Johnson played in 33 NFL games with eight starts, completing 55.2 percent of his passing attempts for 1,632 yards, eight touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
The 35-year-old has endured quite the football journey since being drafted in the fifth round by the Buccaneers in 2009. He’s played in four leagues – the NFL, the United Football League, the AAF and the XFL – and been on an NFL roster 17 different times, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
As you may have guessed, this isn’t Johnson’s first time with the Jets. New York signed him for a week during training camp in 2015 to back up Ryan Fitzpatrick. That was after Geno Smith suffered a broken jaw at the hands of IK Enemkpali.
Johnson will provide an experienced presence in a Jets locker room that features three quarterbacks who have never attempted a pass in a regular-season game. Rookie Zach Wilson is the presumed starter, but backups James Morgan and Mike White shouldn’t provide too much solace if Wilson were to miss time. The Jets worked Johnson out in late July before Wilson signed his contract, so they clearly liked him enough to bring him on officially.
Robert Saleh previously said that he wasn’t planning on adding a veteran passer to this group, but he and Joe Douglas obviously changed their minds. Johnson might not make the final 53-man roster when final cuts happen later this summer, but he’ll at least give the Jets another person to look at for the backup role.
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