While the Jets have two recently drafted quarterbacks on their roster in 2015 fourth-round pick Bryce Petty and 2016 second-rounder Christian Hackenberg, the franchise has little faith in either, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. General manager Mike Maccagnan opined Thursday that Petty has starting-caliber potential, but the organization only regards him as a backup behind the scenes, according to Mehta. Petty struggled mightily this season in his first taste of NFL action, completing 56.4 percent of attempts, tossing three touchdowns against seven interceptions and posting a 60.0 passer rating in parts of six games. Hackenberg wasn’t even active until Week 17, when he backed up Ryan Fitzpatrick, and a team source scoffed at the notion Thursday that the ex-Penn State Nittany Lion could be the Jets’ long-term solution. “He will never make it,” the source told Mehta. “Never.” Although Maccagnan stated that Hackenberg made progress during the season, the executive also implied that the Jets will look for an outside starter, revealing that “all options are on the table.”
More from New York and three other AFC cities:
- As a reward for a strong debut season as the Titans’ GM, controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk decided Thursday to make Jon Robinson the second-highest-ranking member of the organization. Robinson is now the team’s executive vice president/GM after helping the Titans go from three wins in 2015 to nine victories this season. “This is an acknowledgement of his work and it puts him on equal footing with others in the league who direct football operations,” Strunk said in a statement (via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com).
- Woody Johnson could be under consideration to become the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom when President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month, but the Jets’ owner downplayed it as speculation Thursday, per the Associated Press. If chosen, Johnson would reportedly hand control of the Jets over to his brother until the appointment ends.
- Bills linebacker and pending free agent Zach Brown posted a message Thursday on Instagram referring to his time in Buffalo in the past tense, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com points out (on Twitter). After spending the first three years of his career in Tennessee, Brown signed a modest deal with the Bills last April. The 27-year-old then emerged as a major bargain, playing 16 games for the fourth time in a row and totaling an AFC-high 149 tackles to go with four sacks and two forced fumbles. Brown, whom Pro Football Focus graded an impressive 17th among 89 qualified linebackers, should fare much better on the open market this offseason.
- The Raiders are still optimistic that Matt McGloin will be able to serve as the primary backup to Connor Cook in Saturday’s wild-card game round game in Houston, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. “Moxy,” who’s dealing with a shoulder injury, got some light work in Wednesday.
- The Jets worked out Olympic sprinter Tre Houston on Thursday, writes Mehta. Houston competed in the 200 meters for Bermuda at the 2016 Rio Games and projects as a wide receiver.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
A make or break year for both Bowles and Maccagnan. So far, this duo has been less than impressive. In their first year draft, Williams falls to number six and is a no brainier selection. In the second round, they draft Devin Smith with Jay Ajayi waiting to be taken. Maccagnan receives the go ahead to spend anything they can in the free agent market to make this team competitive. Yikes! Last years selection of Hackenberg in the second round was a huge mistake and that alone would have got many other GMs fired. They probably could have
got him in round four or five. Seems Bowles let this team spin out of control and neither he or Maccagnan did anything to put out team fires. I am a huge Jets fan and hope they become a contender someday…
We need some good drafting and a lot of luck!
Please impress us guys, We have been waiting a long time.
Not a Jets fan but would it make any sense for them to work with the Bills and go get Tyrod Taylor to be the guy behind center. It seems as if the Bills have soured on him and don’t like the dollars/performance any longer. It seems as if they just wish to clean house. This guys going to cost big bucks but at least they have an athletic guy to build an offense around.
Next, and here’s the wilder suggestion, go out and get Chip Kelly to build and run an offense around Taylor and their offensive weapons. He sucked as a head coach I the Pros, but he did pretty well in college running an offense around Mariota and his skill set.
My only other comment is that its amazing that Macagnan is still around with his pick of Hackenburg, and that the Bills GM is also give the ridiculous contract he re-scripted or Taylor.
So…
1. Taylor will be released. Jets can pick him up for nothing.
2. Chip Kelly? I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t think he’ll get another HC job in the NFL. College is where he belongs.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Jets getting Taylor, since that news came out. He may be the best available and attainable fit for their team. Then they can focus on the draft to protect him. It is true, he’s going to be released, not sure what kind of salary he would warrant.