PHOENIX — Jets coach Aaron Glenn cleared up any questions about whether Geno Smith will be the team’s starting quarterback Sunday.
“No doubt about it, he’s our guy,” Glenn told NFL Network here at the NFL owners meeting.
This is not shocking news. It has been assumed that Smith would be the Jets starter since the team acquired him on March 10 in a trade with the Raiders, but this was the first time anyone from the organization publicly commented on Smith since then.
The Jets are still expected to add a quarterback and maybe two. They currently only have Smith, Brady Cook, and Bailey Zappe on the roster. The Jets are expected to add a veteran backup to Smith, and they could draft a quarterback.
The Jets picked Smith from an uninspiring group of options at quarterback. The team moved on from Justin Fields after just one season, trading him to the Chiefs on March 16.
Glenn expressed optimism about what Smith can do in his second stint with the Jets.
“It means to have a bona fide starter come in and lead this offense to where it needs to go,” Glenn said. “Listen, he’s done it, you know, a couple of years. I mean, those years in Seattle, when he was, I think, Comeback Player of the Year.
“Man, he was up for MVP early in the season. There’s no doubt in my mind that we brought a competent starter here on this team. I look forward to him getting in the building.”
The acquisition of Smith has not gone over well with some Jets fans, who remember Smith’s failed first go-round with the team. The Jets drafted Smith in the second round of the 2013 draft, and he was the starter for most of his first two seasons. He lost the starting job in 2015 after his jaw was broken in an altercation with a teammate.
Smith bounced around as a backup for several years but revitalized his career with the Seahawks. He went to the Pro Bowl in 2022 and 2023 and threw 50 touchdowns over those two seasons. His numbers have slipped since then, including last year with the Raiders when he threw a NFL-worst 17 interceptions.
Smith is now 35 and has expressed excitement about getting another shot with the Jets, the team that drafted him.
“I don’t think anyone could have imagined that, honestly, but that’s the beauty of life itself,” Smith said after the trade.
The Jets traded a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for Smith and a 2026 seventh-rounder. The Raiders are paying Smith $16.2 million with the Jets paying just $3.3 million, a bargain for a starting quarterback.
