FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — From the moment they signed Justin Fields, the New York Jets have done everything except rent billboard space in Times Square to affirm their commitment to him as QB1.
First, there was the contract — two years, $40 million, including $30 million guaranteed. Then came support from team officials, followed by repeated, unspoken nods in the draft — seven picks, no quarterback selections.
On his third team in three years, Fields is getting plenty of love from the Jets, who hope he can be more than a post-Aaron Rodgers transition quarterback. They want him to be their long-term answer.
To that end, they devoted a chunk of their draft to his cause, taking three offensive players among their first four picks — right tackle Armand Membou (first round), tight end Mason Taylor (second) and wide receiver Arian Smith (fourth).
“Listen, we want to surround Justin with good skill players, along with a good offensive line,” first-year coach Aaron Glenn said. “So any time you can do that within any offense, with any quarterback, man, that’s an A-plus. So that’s the plan, it’s always been the plan, and that’s something that we’ve talked about before. Let him be a quarterback and surround him with good players.”
There was a lot of speculation that the Jets would draft a quarterback, not in the first round, but a Day 2 or Day 3 pick — low-cost insurance in case Fields doesn’t pan out. The logical spot would’ve been Round 4, when quarterbacks such as Shedeur Sanders, Kyle McCord and Will Howard still were on the board. One former Jets scout said the free-falling Sanders, projected by many as a first-rounder, would’ve been a good fourth-round value for any quarterback-needy team.
“At that point, what do you have to lose?” the scout said, claiming the potential reward outweighed the risk.
Sanders and McCord went in the fifth round to the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively, with Howard going in the sixth to the Pittsburgh Steelers. All told, 13 quarterbacks were selected — with the Browns picking two.
The Jets wound up making four picks on Day 3 — all defenders. First-year general manager Darren Mougey said they “talked about a lot of the quarterbacks,” but it wasn’t addressed until after the draft, when they agreed to terms with Missouri’s Brady Cook as an undrafted free agent.
By not drafting one, the Jets sent a message, over and over, that they’re all-in on Fields. It’s almost like they didn’t want a draft pick on the team to cloud what they believe is a clear picture:
Fields is the starter. Veteran Tyrod Taylor is the backup. Period.
Jordan Travis was thought to be their so-called developmental quarterback, but the 2024 fifth-round pick retired Wednesday because of a horrific ankle injury from college. It’s unclear if the Jets knew before the draft about his retirement plans, but they were aware that he had been laboring through his rehab, according to a person familiar with the situation.
This much is clear: It’s Fields’ team. Even the newbies know it.
“I’ve seen his contract,” Mason Taylor said. “They don’t pay bad players that type of money, so he’s a really good quarterback, and I can’t wait to go work with him and work with the guys in New York. It’s going to be awesome.”
Membou, noting Fields’ exceptional running ability, said, “I’m very athletic. So me, with an athletic quarterback, we’re going to be able to do some pretty fun things.”
Smith, who arrived at Georgia in 2020, recalled bumping into Fields on a recruiting visit in 2018 or 2019. Fields played for the Bulldogs in 2018 before transferring to Ohio State. Smith called it a “full circle” moment, knowing they will be teammates.
“It’s just crazy,” Smith said. “Now I’m going to go to an organization like the Jets and play with a player like him, a leader and a dynamic player when he can run and throw the ball. So I’m very excited to have a quarterback like that, that’s going to be able to [distribute] the ball.”
Fields, of course, is no sure thing for the Jets.
He hasn’t lived up to expectations after being drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bears in 2021, nine spots after the Jets picked Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall. Fields ranks 29th out of 34 qualified passers in Total QBR (47.1) over the last four seasons, with a tendency to hold the ball too long. He has been sacked on 11% of his dropbacks, the highest rate among quarterbacks with at least 30 starts over that span.
That may be part of the reason the Jets chose Membou, whom they believe can be the missing piece in an offensive line rebuild that began several years ago.
The Fields acquisition might seem risky to some, but the Jets prefer to focus on what he did over his final 12 starts — eight with the Bears, four with the Steelers. He went 8-4, averaging 0.6 turnovers per start. In his first 32 starts, he was 6-26 with a 1.1 turnover average, per ESPN Research.
Jets officials believe Fields has improved from the pocket and will continue to make advancements in their system, with Glenn hinting that perhaps he wasn’t utilized properly in the past.
Any transformation might take time. Fields is learning a new system, his third in three years, and some of the key pieces on offense are unproven. Membou and Taylor could be rookie starters, and left tackle Olu Fashanu has only seven career starts. But Fields does have two impact players in wide receiver Garrett Wilson, his former Ohio State teammate, and running back Breece Hall.
If Fields fails his 2025 audition, the Jets can cut bait and look to find their quarterback in the 2026 draft. There is no clear-cut top quarterback, but it’s regarded as a better class than 2025 even though it’s not likely to include Texas’ Arch Manning, according to ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller.
“I know a lot of teams that look at that 2026 quarterback class, and they were really just willing to sit this group out and say, ‘You know what? We’ll let those teams take those guys in the sixth and seventh round. We’re going to hold out for next year,'” Miller said on ESPN’s “Flight Deck” podcast.
The Jets hope they don’t have to worry about that.
