The New York Jets will probably be on the lookout for a new quarterback this offseason, but one NFL analyst has already scratched them off the list as a candidate for the top free agent of the 2025 class.
There is no guarantee that Aaron Rodgers will return to the team for the final year of his contract in 2025, as the Jets could release or attempt to trade him long before then. Rodgers could also decide to retire or push his way out to free agency, which would give him the option to choose his own destination.
That would leave New York looking to free agency or the 2025 draft, in which the franchise currently sits seventh in the pecking order.
While the Jets' draft position is solid, it is far from spectacular with a weak QB class coming out of the collegiate ranks next spring and at least three teams ahead of them that will likely look at signal callers with their first picks.
As such, free agency is the surer bet, though the prospective selection isn't extensive there either. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who the Jets drafted No. 3 overall in 2018 before moving on from him three years later, is having an MVP-caliber type of season and will hit the open market next March if the Vikings don't extend him before then.
However, Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus ruled the Jets out of the running for Darnold during a podcast that aired on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
"To me the Vikings are still a destination spot for him. But then I look at the [Tennessee] Titans, [Pittsburgh] Steelers, [New York] Giants -- those are the three teams that I really look at of where he could go that makes sense. You could throw the Jets in there, I suppose ... but even the Jets don't have a ton of money to spend," Sikkema said . "And why would Sam Darnold go back to the place that he was drafted to and then gave up on him? I'm out on the Jets being an option, even though it would make sense because they could potentially need a quarterback."
If New York can't get in on Darnold and doesn't find value at quarterback with the No. 7 pick in the draft, the choices will be slim enough that the return of Rodgers might be the best option, even despite his 3-10 record as the Jets' starter this season.
