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Why haven’t the Jets signed a veteran backup QB
That is, unless they feel that Bailey Zappe is that guy, but not sure he has the requisite arm talent for windy MetLife Stadium.
“Lacks the arm talent for difficult, off-platform throws,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. “Won’t beat NFL coverage often enough on tight-window throws.”
Fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik is a project, who is not only a project, but missed valuable reps the last two weeks of the off-season program due to a back issue. You could argue he needed every rep he could get this spring to help his maturation process.
The idea that they would go into the season with Klubnik one snap away from having to play as a rookie is playing with fire.
“When the first read isn’t there, his field vision is average,” wrote Zierlein before the 2026 draft.
Nothing wrong with taking a flyer on him in the fourth round, but putting him in the #2 hole right out of the gate seems like a bad plan. He should probably be in the #3 developmental QB spot.
And now, with Geno Smith’s legal issues, the need for a veteran backup becomes even more apparent.
According to Harvey Levin’s TMZ, a woman went on social media, “GENO SMITH beat my ass cause he HATES taking care of his special needs kid and can’t be left alone with him because he’d rather watch s*x online and play Call of Duty.”
The police are investigating it.
Due process is important, and it might be a made-up charge, but Smith has had a history of legal issues, and the New York Post reported another one on Tuesday.
Headline – ‘Geno Smith had contentious encounter with police three months before alleged battery incident.’
“On a rainy March 18 afternoon, the Jets quarterback was pulled over by a Davie PD officer on a roadway in Davie, Fla. after he had allegedly been driving a Rolls Royce with improper tags,” wrote Edward Lewis of the California Post.
Look, neither one of these stories is likely to lead to a 2026 suspension by the NFL, so the QB should be available, but these legal entanglements, neither of which is his first, make you realize even more that they need to go out and get a veteran backup.
You can’t mess around with the #2 QB spot in a league with so many QB injuries.
One could argue that last year’s backup Tyrod Taylor would have been perfect, but he signed with the Green Bay Packers.
Not sure if the Jets had interest in bringing him back, or if he had interest in returning, especially after late in the season when the coach said he was starting UDFA Brady Cook because he gave them the best chance to win.
If an organization believes that Cook, a super-raw rookie with some accuracy issues, gives a team a better chance to win than you, then it was perhaps time to look for employment elsewhere.
So the Jets need to go out and get a veteran backup.
A perfect candidate could be Philadelphia reserve Tanner McKee, who could be available after the Eagles traded with Carolina for Andy Dalton and picked North Dakota State QB Cole Payton in the 2026 fifth round.
June 24, 2026
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