Geno Smith Gives Jets a 'Competent' QB1 After Raiders Trade to Replace Justin Fields, HC Glenn Says

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn told Judy Battista of NFL Network during a sitdown interview that the Jets have "brought a competent starter" in at quarterback this year after trading for ex-Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Geno Smith.

"It means to have a bona fide starter come in and lead this offense to where it needs to go," Glenn said when Battista asked what it meant for the Jets to bring back Smith, who played his first four NFL seasons (2013-2016) with New York.

"Listen, he's done it, you know, a couple years. I mean, those years in Seattle when he was Comeback Player of the Year, he was up for MVP early in the season. There's no doubt in my mind that we brought a competent starter here on this team, I look forward to him getting in the building."

Smith, who turns 36 on Oct. 10, did not have a good season last year with the Raiders, who ended the season with a 3-14 record.

In 15 starts, Smith completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 3,025 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), 19 touchdowns and an NFL-high 17 interceptions. He finished 35th in quarterback rating out of 42 qualifiers, per Pro Football Reference.

However, to Glenn's point, Smith recently experienced much success when he started for the Seattle Seahawks from 2022-2024. The two-time Pro Bowler was the Comeback Player of the Year in 2022, when he led the NFL with a 69.8 percent completion rate, and even finished ninth in NFL MVP voting.

Over his three seasons in Seattle, Smith connected on 68.5 percent of his passes for 12,226 yards (4,075 yards per season), 71 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. He helped lead Seattle to winning records in each of his campaigns.

New York, which went 3-14 last year, would certainly love a winning record. The passing game had its fair share of struggles last year, with quarterbacks combining for 15 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, a 60.3 percent completion rate and 4.8 yards per attempt.

The Jets went into 2025 with Justin Fields as their starting quarterback, but he was benched twice and ultimately sidelined for both Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook. New York traded Fields to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in March.

Now the Jets hope Smith can bring some more offensive success after the team finished fourth-last in scoring last year.