Position at a Glance in '26
In March, the Jets acquired Geno Smith from the Raiders in a trade that involved a late-round pick swap. Smith, a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013, made 30 starts for the club before joining the Giants in 2017 as a free agent. After four years as a backup with three teams, Smith's career was revitalized in Seattle from 2022-24 when he registered the third-best completion percentage in the NFL (68.5 percent) and his 13 games with 300-plus passing yards tied for the fifth-most in the league. He also recorded 19 games with a 100.0-plus passer rating (fifth-most) over that span and fired 71 passing touchdowns (tied for eighth).

"We got a lot to prove, and everybody's got a lot to prove," said offensive coordinator Frank Reich this spring. "But man, he is on point. His preparation is top-notch. His football mind is elite. I mean the way he's communicating in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, the way he communicates in the quarterback room. I've been around a lot of really smart and good quarterbacks, I mean he is, all I'm going to say is we're in good shape."

Even in an uneven season with the Raiders, Smith hit on 67.4 percent of his passes. In 54 games with the Seahawks, Smith connected on 68.5 percent of his throws.

"He's awfully accurate," QB coach Bill Musgrave said. "When he's got a guy going down the seam or he's got a comeback out there, he's got a post, when he's got to extend the play, he's impeccably accurate. So, we feel good about that. Now, he's no spring chicken, he's [35 years old], but he can still move, but we want to keep him clean going forward as a Jet. We don't want him to have any scratches on him when we get out of these games."

Storyline to Watch
Since returning to a full-time starting role in 2022, Smith has been an extremely durable player the past four seasons. Over his final three seasons in Seattle (2022-24) and then last year in Las Vegas, Smith started in 64 of a possible 68 games. His availability will be key for a team that will enter training camp with three players – fourth-year veteran Bailey Zappe, who has started 9 career games, second-year QB Brady Cook, an undrafted free agent who started four games as a rookie, and fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik, one of the most prolific passers at Clemson, – competing for the No. 2 spot. Klubnik (back spasms) was held out for precautionary reasons late in minicamp.

"We're always going to create competition when it comes to that," Glenn said. "And the thing is, we have Bailey who's been around this league for a long time, he's won some games. We have Cook that was with us last year who's a second-year player and he's still developing. And then we have Cade who was doing a really good job until he was out with a back."

What They're Saying
Smith, who is operating in his fourth offense in four seasons, has taken the transition in stride.

"I think there's always going to be challenges, but it's just about how you study and how you learn," he said. "I have no issue with it. I feel like it's helped me, because I've had to learn a number of different systems and different terminology and different ways to execute. I feel like I've grown in a lot of areas because of that, so I'm actually grateful for it. And that's also part of the NFL. There's a lot of change. When you're winning, people are going to try and poach your coaches and you're going to have to adjust. It's the nature of the beast, but it hasn't been an issue at all."

Trade Acquisition in '26: Smith (from Las Vegas)

Draft Choice in '26: Klubnik (Rd. 4, 110th overall)

Signed Reserve/Future Contract: Zappe

QB Trivia
New/old Jets starting QB Geno Smith has two 4,000-yard passing seasons to his credit — 4,282 yards in 2022 and a career-high 4,320 in '24, both for Seattle. Thus Smith has twice as many 4,000-yard seasons in the last 4 years as the Jets have had in their history. Their only such passer was, of course, Joe Namath with his iconic 4,007 yards in 1967.