New York Jets Offseason Preview
The team that gave up even trying in 2025 has given up pretending to try before 2026 even begins.
This is the latest installment in an ongoing series of offseason previews
2025 Season in a Nutshell
The Jets had a terrible year, even by Jets standards. That’s a lot like poop smelling especially bad, even by poop standards.
Coaching Situation
Aaron Glenn kept his job despite belligerent, almost willful mismanagement and ineptitude. Or perhaps he kept his job because of belligerent, almost willful mismanagement and ineptitude. Woody Johnson loves that sort of leadership.
Frank Reich replaces Tanner Engstrand (now with the Falcons) as offensive coordinator. Reich hasn’t had an original idea since The Philly Special, which was in no way his idea.
Wink Martindale interviewed twice for the defensive coordinator job but ultimately declined it. ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports that Johnson ordered Glenn to run the defensive himself rather than turning control over to one of the NFL’s most respected coordinators. I love the idea of Woody Johnson, the 78-year old great-grandson of a cottonball magnate who dabbles as a weaksauce political power-broker, having strong opinions about how an NFL defense is installed: it’s hilariously on-brand. Anyway, someone named Brian Duker (a Glenn assistant from Detroit) appeared at the last minute and snatched the job.
Glenn and Reich are the sort of coaching staff you keep around so you have people to fire in November.
Quarterback Situation
Justin Fields suffered a mysterious practice injury in November and was placed on double-secret probation. Tyrod Taylor faked his own death to escape the field in early December. Brady Cook hung a “Closed” sign on the door and spent the final weeks of the season shooing customers away. None of these quarterbacks are in the Jets’, or anyone else’s, future plans.
Reich’s return raises the specter of Carson Wentz. Don’t hate me for being the bearer of bad news, follks.
State of the Roster
Everyone you could possibly care about was either traded (Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams) or was inactive (Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall) by the end of the season.
Hall is a free agent. Young tackles Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Armand Membou are solid. Isaiah Williams is an ace return man. There are some other decent players scattered around.
If this soup were any thinner it would be distilled water.
Cap and Draft Stuff
The Jets possess extra first- and second-round draft picks in the 2026 draft thanks to their various trades; they are scheduled to select 2nd, 16th, 33rd and 44th in the first two rounds. History tells us that the Jets will select Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the second pick this year, then draft another quarterback with the second pick in about three years.
The Jets also have $80 million in cap space and will make a little more by cutting Fields. So pencil those A+ offseason grades in the books now! Maybe the Jets can host an A+ Offseason Grades Parade around Florham Park!
One Thing the Jets Should Do
Re-sign Alijah Vera-Tucker, who missed all of 2025 with a triceps injury. Vera-Tucker is the only Jets first or second round pick from before 2022 currently on the roster. It’s hard to excited about a team’s future draft picks when their past draft picks rarely stick around through their fourth seasons. Also, a Vera-Tucker/Fashanu/Membou offensive line would be the strength of the roster, besides perhaps the punt return unit.
In Summary
The Jets are the male loneliness epidemic in football form. They are no longer even pretending to try to remain competitive. They plan to just goon around with their mock draft simulators for the next two years. It’s Moneyball, but for anti-intellectuals. It’s almost too pathetic to be funny.
So yes, award the Jets A-plus grades when they overspend on some big names and draft a pair of blue chips. The franchise’s GPA is 0.0 right now. Acing some easy quizzes isn’t going to get them to pass.
