The Jets are in the starting quarterback market, no secret there. Now how do they go about filling that role? Head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey have their thoughts on the all-important subject and will go about implementing those ideas in the coming weeks and months.
Meanwhile, Brian Baldinger of NFL Network has some helpful observations as well. Baldy's simple answer: "You have to identify that guy, however you do it, and you have to get him and you have to develop him and you have to surround him with elite talent."
Baldinger shared some prime examples of different approaches to that formidable task with Eric Allen on the most recent Official Jets Podcast.
"Last year, Denver drafted Bo Nix. It's the first time Sean Payton, who's been coaching in this league for a while, had to develop a rookie quarterback," Baldinger said. "He never had to do that before. He got Drew Brees four years into his career, he had a lot of veteran quarterbacks as an assistant coach in New York [with the Giants] and in Philadelphia.
"By the end of the year, he was winning games and taking care of the football and becoming a legitimate prospect that you can see Denver competing for playoff spots every year with Bo Nix. And he started all 17 games for them, so they have the right guy."
Other 2024 first-round rookies had success, beginning with the big splash made by Jayden Daniels with Washington. But Baldy reminded that the Jets could find green gold in Round 2. Just ask their friendly foes down I-95, the Eagles, who took Jalen Hurts in Round 2 of the 2020 draft, 53rd overall.
"People questioned whether Jalen could ever play quarterback in this league — he's just a running back. Well, he's the Super Bowl MVP-winning QB right now. They developed Jalen and they got the right coach and they got the line and they got the talent around him and they never stopped building around him."
The upshot for Baldinger is that for the Jets, he said, "I would look real hard at drafting a quarterback as high as I possibly could."
Yet the experienced veteran route is still open to them, beginning on the Jets' current roster with Tyrod Taylor. "He's been in this role," Baldinger said. "He knows his role, but he still is athletic and he still can win games for you, he can still put a game plan together. I think he is very capable of being a bridge quarterback right now."
After that, he said, "Everybody is on the table. If Derek Carr gets released by New Orleans, if Kellen Moore goes in there and says we want to start fresh. ... Nobody thought Sam Darnold could do what he did this year, nobody that watched him at Carolina or the Jets or even one game in San Francisco. Nobody could have predicted that he could have played that well or won that many games. ... Nobody could have predicted that Baker Mayfield could have won two straight division titles and win playoff games at Tampa Bay."
And nobody has to tell Team Glenn/Mougey how important their decisions through free agency and the draft are going to be.
"You have to get that guy in your building and you have to start showing the belief in him to build around him," Baldinger said. "Everybody has to find their guy. Everybody has to find their quarterback."
