PHOENIX — If there was any question about Geno Smith’s role on the New York Jets, it’s gone now.
“No doubt about it, he’s our guy,” coach Aaron Glenn told NFL Network on Sunday at the NFL meetings, becoming the first person from the organization to publicly declare Smith as the starting quarterback.
Smith, acquired in a March 10 trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, is one of three quarterbacks on the roster. The others are Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe, neither of whom is guaranteed a roster spot. They have only 13 combined career starts.
The Jets made the trade for Smith with the intention of making him their starter. At the time, the only other experienced starter on the roster was Justin Fields, but he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on March 16.
So it’s Smith’s team, and that won’t change even if the Jets draft a quarterback or add another veteran to the mix, which is likely to happen.
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“It means to have a bona fide starter come in and lead this offense to where it needs to go,” Glenn reported of Smith, 35, a second-round pick by the Jets in 2013. “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.”
Smith’s best years were 2022 and 2023, when he started for the Seahawks and passed for 7,906 yards and 50 touchdowns. Statistically, he’s on a two-year decline; he threw a league-high 17 interceptions in 2025, his only season with the Raiders.
The Raiders, who are expected to draft Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick, were prepared to release Smith. Instead of waiting for him to become a free agent, the Jets executed the trade, sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for Smith and a 2026 seventh-rounder.
The Jets are paying $3.3 million of his salary, with the Raiders paying $16.2 million.
