The New York Jets braintrust, general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn, met with the media on Tuesday for their end-of-season press conference.
A lot of ground was covered, such as questions about what the duo learned in their first year on the job, coaching staff changes, and, most importantly, the quarterback position.
Justin Fields was the team brass’s answer last offseason, but that won’t be acceptable for 2026.
Thankfully, Mougey was adamant that New York would leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of a new quarterback.
“I can tell you this, we’ll exhaust every option,” the general manager told reporters.
“You know, free agency, the league, obviously the draft, we will exhaust that and have a good solution for the New York Jets.”
Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey to Evaluate Everything, Not Just QB
With the quarterback struggles that have plagued the New York Jets over the last quarter-century, it’s understandable that there’s pressure on the current regime to finally get it right.
But Mougey and Glenn did their best to downplay the signal-caller conundrum and emphasized the fact that the entire roster needs to be evaluated, along with the quarterback position.
“Yeah, we’re going through that process this week as the whole roster. We’re going to evaluate every position on the team. And obviously we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better at several spots, quarterback included,” Mougey told reporters.
Then, Glenn jumped in, sensing an incoming question regarding Fields, who is still contractually obligated to be with the Jets in 2026.
“And I know the question that you were about to ask. Justin’s under contract. Brady’s (Cook) under contract. But when it comes to the quarterback, like I said, we’re going to always have the best guy.”
“And that’s always been the plan from the beginning. The guy that gives us the best chance to win. But to answer your question, he’s under contract.”
New York will surely find a way to offload Fields this offseason.
The real question is if they designate him a post-June 1 cut to spread out the cap hits, or outright release him and take on the full $22 million in dead cap.
Are the Jets an Ideal Quarterback Landing Spot?
There’s been a lot of noise surrounding the New York Jets and their attractiveness as a destination for young quarterbacks since they solidified themselves with the No. 2 pick.
Todd McShay, The Ringer’s NFL Draft analyst, cautioned Oregon’s Dante Moore about playing for the Jets, and urged him to stay another year at school if he could.
But the reality is, New York has the best foundation for a young quarterback than they’ve ever had in their recent history according to SNY’s Connor Hughes.
“Why advise a prospect behind an offensive line, left to right, of Fashanu, Vera-Tucker, Meyers, Tippmann, and Membou? While handing it off to Hall or Allen? Throwing to Wilson, Carnell Tate, or Makai Lemon? For an owner in Woody Johnson sick of losing and hellbent in spending and doing whatever he can to turn this around?” Wrote Hughes.
“The Jets have, at long last, built their best ecosystem for a young quarterback to succeed. Ignoring that reality would be the laziest take of all.”
If the Jets were to select a young quarterback second overall, say, for example, Moore, he would be in a prime position to develop alongside a nucleus of other young offensive players.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Jets GM Vows to ‘Exhaust Every Option’ in Hunt for Next Quarterback appeared first on Heavy Sports.
