With the top two spots on their quarterback depth chart accounted for, the Jets will at least temporarily move on from Tim Boyle. New York is releasing the veteran signal-caller, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Boyle has four years of regular season play to his name, all of which has come within the NFC North. He was with the Packers in 2019 and ’20, and his time there was followed up by one-year stints with the Lions and Bears. Boyle signed with the Jets in April, as the team sorted through its efforts to land a high-end veteran starter.
That goal was achieved with the Aaron Rodgers trade later that month, a move which moved the latter into the starting role. New York still has former No. 2 pick Zach Wilson in place, and he will reside as the team’s backup during Rodgers’ time in the Big Apple – something which is likely to last for at least the 2023 and ’24 campaigns. With those two in the intermediate-term plans, Boyle will be left on the outside of the roster bubble.
Fowler does note that Boyle will likely be a practice squad candidate if he no other teams show much interest in him while sorting out their own roster decisions. That would allow the 28-year-old to remain in New York as the team begins what is expected to be a window of Super Bowl contention. Boyle, who has started three of his 17 appearances, would represent relatively experienced depth if needed as a fill-in for Rogers or Wilson.
A number of quarterbacks similar to Boyle have found themselves on the waiver wire or free agency recently, however, so a number of teams around the league could be in the market for depth additions under center. Clubs willing to carry three passers on their initial 53-man rosters could be interested in players like Boyle, which would give him an opportunity to avoid a taxi squad situation.
I’m still not clear on the new emergency QB rule. My understanding was that the emergency QB had to be on the 53-man roster. If that’s the case, the elevated QB would be the backup and the main roster backup would be the emergency QB. The practice squad QB would be limited to three elevations. I’d guess that anyone listed as inactive could be designated as the emergency QB. I guess the experience of the 49ers in the NFC Championship is not enough to sway most teams to carry 3 QBs.
Here’s how it works: although there are 53 players on the roster, only 48 are active, and allowed to dress, for game day. The exception is: if a 3rd QB is on the 53, he is allowed to dress even if inactive. He can also be activated during the game if, and only if, BOTH QBs are hurt (or DQed). If one of the active QBs is hurt temporarily, but is then later cleared to return to the game, then the emergency QB must be removed from play. The emergency QB can come back and play if emergency conditions reoccur, so I assume it’s up to the refs to make sure the rule is not abused.
Nothing should be trusted to the refs. A third emergency condition reoccurrence should trigger a contingency option where teams can activate either a stadium usher or the team mascot depending on which has gained the edge in a series of 15 tie breaker procedures.