Geno Smith Reportedly Meeting with New York Giants

Former New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is reportedly set for a free-agent visit with the crosstown rival New York Giants on Saturday.

Art Stapleton of The Record first reported the expected meeting.

Smith signing with the Giants would be a concession he'd enter the 2017 season as a backup. He made 30 starts across four seasons with the Jets, though only one of those came over the past two years. His 2016 campaign came to a premature end in October due to a torn ACL.

Mark E. Ortega of NFL.com passed along comments the 26-year-old quarterback made during a sit-down interview last month with the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport about his short-term outlook.

"Of course, I'm open to (being a backup)," Smith said. "That's not my goal, I don't see myself as that. I was brought into this league, I was brought to the Jets to be a certain caliber of player."

The report also noted the signal-caller expects he'll be a "full-go" in time for training camp, but he's still taking a cautious approach with his recovery.

"This is one thing you don't want to rush," Smith said. "You want to take time with the healing process and that's what we've been doing. We're getting after it, we're working hard, we're getting better. But at the same time, we're being patient. You don't want to have any setbacks."

Rich Cimini of ESPN pointed out one reason the Jets, who are still in the market for a QB, only view him as a fallback option is because they "believe he may not be ready until September."

Meanwhile, the Giants are seeking an experienced backup for Eli Manning. Keith Wenning, a 2014 sixth-round pick who's never attempted an NFL pass, is the only other quarterback on the roster.

New York's front office has also started the process of searching for Manning's long-term replacement, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN. It's unclear whether it views Smith as a possible option in that quest.

Ultimately, Smith should begin to generate more interest in the coming days with the initial wave of the free-agent frenzy starting to subside. Finding a team where he'd have a better opportunity to see the field next season than the Giants so he could rebuild value would seemingly be preferable, though.