Among all the offseason moves already made by Jets GM Darren Mougey, the free-agent signings and the trades (with the prospect of adding four potential starters in April's draft), few have drawn more attention, analysis and comment than the trade with Las Vegas for quarterback Geno Smith. Of course there's organizational history -- the Green & White selected Smith in the second round (No. 39 overall) out of West Virginia in the 2013 NFL Draft -- and then there's the player's long progression that has come full circle.
Smith's journey back to 1 Jets Drive and Florham Park, NJ, has been a tale of perseverance, development and maturity that comes from experience, determination -- and hard work.
"Those three years in Seattle [2022-24] , you look at the last year he was there he was 10-7 ... you know he played winning football," NFL.com analyst Brian Baldinger told team reporter Eric Allen on "The Official Jets Podcast." "He led the league in completion percentage one year [67.8 in 2022 when he was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year]. Was basically a 70 percent completion quarterback and he showed good mobility."
Over his past four seasons, three with the Seahawks and a difficult last season with the Raiders, his 68.2% completion rate is fourth among qualified QBs. Smith's 65.2% complete rate over his career would rank second in Jets franchise history behind Chad Pennington's 65.6% rate.
It's a simple coincidence that last season both the Jets and the Raiders finished with 3-14 records, but Vegas earned the No. 1 overall draft pick -- expected to be Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza -- on the strength of schedule tiebreaker, which rendered Smith and HC Pete Carroll (who helped Smith, who is now 35 years old, resurrect his career in Seattle) expendable. With the Jets in search of a "bridge" QB, Smith's season in Sin City needs to be seen in perspective.
"I was out there a couple of times, he was the leader," Baldinger said. "You know, he played really well last year [67.4% completion percentage, 3,025 passing yards, 19 TDs and 17 INTs]. I don't know if any quarterback could have been successful. The offensive line fell apart [Smith was sacked a league-high 55 times]. Lost their left tackle, lost their left guard. They were a disaster.
"Lost all-world tight end Brock Bowers early in the year. They tried to build the offense around a rookie running back, but Ashton Jeanty didn't have many good games [but did rush for 975 yards]. It was just, it was just tough, really tough. I went back and forth with him on Twitter, over a couple things, and there were games where he did his best just to finish the game, but he was just getting destroyed up front. Guys were blistered, missing assignments. Guys were coming free at him. He showed some toughness."
It's easy to forget that after his first four seasons in the NFL with the Jets (seeing limited action in 2015 and '16), Smith saw the field in a total of 8 games for four teams (the Giants, the Chargers and his first two years with the Seahawks).
"After he left the Jets he sat for a while and got a chance to play in Seattle, and it was the right decision to replace Russell Wilson, and he became a good, solid three-year starter there," Baldinger said.
Over his last four seasons, as a starter for the Raiders and Seahawks, Smith played in 64 games and averaged 3,812 pass yards, 22 pass TDs, 13 INTs and 45 sacks plus a 68.1% completion rate. His 238.3 pass yards per game would add up to 4,051 yards over a 17-game season. In addition, the Jets are taking on a modest cap hit and Smith, the expected starter after the Jets traded Justin Fields to Kansas City, will find himself playing behind a solid offensive line (that added the Raiders' former guard Dylan Parham in free agency last week), a top WR1 in Garrett Wilson and an elite RB1 in Breece Hall.
"He sat for basically almost eight years, and really didn't take a beating, but he learned a lot along the way, with a lot of different coaches," Baldinger said. "So he's learned some different systems. He's been in some different places. I think he's learned. And all quarterbacks absorb and learn differently, and then the whole goal is to be able to take all that maturity, all that experience and then go out and apply it and so he's going to get a pretty good offensive line in front of him, something he certainly didn't have last year. A heck of running back behind him, certainly Garrett Wilson. And whatever they do at wide receiver, a young guy in [TE] Mason Taylor."
It's natural to look at the Jets and their impressive cache of draft picks this year and next, but in a now league like the NFL, the Jets' future at quarterback and across the roster is about now.
"It's low risk, it's high reward," Baldinger said. "It can be high reward."
