When it comes to important answers being sought by the Jets and their fans heading into the 2026 offseason, QB is question one.
And as general manager Darren Mougey said Tuesday about addressing the quarterback position, "That process starts yesterday." As well as today, this week, these next months as the offseason processes continue. "We've got to be better at several spots, quarterback included.'
Head coach Aaron Glenn's take on the position was equally urgent.
"When it comes to quarterbacks, listen, we are always going to have the best guy," Glenn said during the season-ending news conference at 1 Jets Drive. "That's been the plan from the beginning, the guy that gives us the best chance to win."
"I can tell you this," Mougey said. "We will exhaust every option, free agency, the league, obviously the draft. We will exhaust that and have a good solution for the Jets."
The Jets thought they had the plan and a solution in place for the first year of Glenn's tenure as an NFL head coach and Mougey's as a league GM when they signed Justin Fields. It was a plan that didn't bear the desired results, with Fields and the offense struggling in many of his 11 starts, then sitting out a game to injury, then being benched, before he and Tyrod Taylor sustaining injuries that led to rookie free agent Brady Cook taking the reins for the final four-plus games.
"We had a clear vision for Justin and a good plan," Mougey said. "Now obviously, the season didn't go as planned and that's for many reasons. There's not one person, player, coach, system of why we ended winning three games, but that's part of this week's process, it's us diving in and really reflecting on the season and the lessons learned moving forward."
Glenn noted that Fields and Cook are under contract (Taylor can become an unrestricted free agent). And while opportunities will arise to bring in an experienced veteran signal-caller during the free agency signing period, the draft will be an intense focus for all wearers of the green and white with the Jets picking second and 16th overall in Round 1 in late April.
The head coach said the Jets have the infrastructure to select one of the draft's top quarterbacks and develop him, even as the team will be refining that infrastructure throughout the first half of the year.
"We're going to exhaust everything that we can to make sure that we surround our quarterbacks now, and if we get any quarterbacks in the future, with the guys that are going to help them," Glenn said. "That's a whole part of making sure that we evaluate everything that's going on, making sure we have the right people here that can help the quarterback. And I'm not saying we don't have that. That's something that we have to continue to look at.
"So that's not a question I can sit here and say, 'Listen, we have that.' We are going to evaluate and exhaust everything to make sure we surround every one of our guys with the right staff, with the right strength and conditioning, with the right medical, to make sure those guys are successful."
Mougey, like any GM at this time on the NFL calendar, wasn't into discussing whether Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana QB, or any other QB that may be there for them at 2 or 16 or at some number in between.
"There are still several games to be played and I think these games will be big and have an impact," the GM said of the prospect of other top quarterbacks emerging in the remaining College Football Playoff schedule. "And I think there's a process and every organization is different and in a different situation. But I know that all teams in the NFL are very thorough with their process and have different tastes or likings or needs at their certain spots.
"But yeah, the quarterback evaluation is a full process, I think, start to finish, with obviously the games being the most important and a lot of that is done, so I understand the questions. But there will be some exciting games here still to watch at the end."
And wherever that quarterback comes from, Mougey said the supporting cast will be there to help him, the offense and the Jets as a team succeed.
"I feel good about that offensive line. I think that's a strength of ours, it's a young group. I think, with continuity in the group, they'll only continue to get better," he said. "I think we've got a young tight end, I think we've got a good tight end room. Obviously, we've got Garrett [Wilson], we've got Breece [Hall], we've got a good stable of backs. So I feel good about the offensive support on that side of the ball."
Glenn said his and the Jets' 2026 plan has a lot of the goals in mind as the '25 plan. Urgency could be job one, not just in finding that certain QB but in bringing home many more Ws than Ls.
"It doesn't matter what the record is because winning is a sense of urgency in itself and that's what the plan is, to win," Glenn said, adding of owner Woody Johnson: "We all know Woody and we all know he wants to win just like we do. So yes, there is a sense of urgency from that."
