I’ll admit it: There was a point last November when I called the idea of the New York Jets pursuing Kyler Murray “absurd.”
But as we sit here in early March, the situation has changed enough that Murray has become not only the Jets’ best quarterback option, but their only one.
If they want to win games in 2026, that is.
Regardless of who the Jets end up with at quarterback, their head coach and general manager will spend the next six months trying to sell the public on the idea that they are all-in on competing in 2026. But can Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey really do that with a straight face if they end up with one of the quarterbacks they are being closely linked to at the moment?
Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brissett, and Geno Smith—these are the names that headline the likeliest options to become the Jets’ starting quarterback in 2026.
Those three veteran quarterbacks combined for a 5-28 record in the 2025 season. They each ranked in the bottom 10 of QBR among 40 qualified quarterbacks.
Is this really the best New York can do?
Well, as a matter of fact, it might be. That is the harsh reality of New York’s situation. They did not land the first overall pick in what is widely considered a one-quarterback draft, while the free agent market does not include any appealing starters whatsoever.
Thus, settling for one of these unappealing retreads on a cheap contract seemed like the Jets’ only mildly appealing option ahead of what projects to be a bridge year for the organization.
At least, it was the only plausible option… until the news dropped that the Arizona Cardinals plan to release Murray.
When Murray was viewed as someone who had to be acquired through trade, the idea of New York pursuing him was far more complex. The terms of his lucrative contract, along with the trade compensation required, made it unappealing for the Jets to acquire him in their current situation as a rebuilding franchise.
Now that Murray is expected to be a free agent, though, the situation is entirely different.
Even once he is released, Murray will be paid $36.8 million by Arizona in the 2026 season. For that reason, Murray could sign for as little as the veteran minimum and still enjoy a handsomely paid year. He will probably sign for more than the measly minimum, but his price is unlikely to get anywhere out of hand.
That makes him an extremely appealing option for the Jets’ situation. They can roll the dice on his elite-level upside without committing anything more than a modest one-year deal—no draft picks, no long-term money. The risk would be near-zero, and the potential reward would be sky-high.
Murray, still just 28 years old, is a former No. 1 overall pick who has displayed star-caliber heights in the NFL. He was the MVP favorite midway through the 2021 season, his third year in the league. Injuries hampered his next two-and-a-half seasons, but upon a healthy 2024 season, he set a career-high with a 63.4 QBR, placing ninth among qualified quarterbacks, slotting between Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts.
The opportunity to land a 28-year-old quarterback with that type of upside on a paltry one-year contract is one that does not come around often.
For the Jets’ specific predicament, though, what is even more appealing than Murray’s ceiling is his floor. Even if Murray does not enjoy a late-career breakout that sees him return to or surpass his previous peaks, he is still a much better option to keep the Jets competitive than the likes of Wentz, Brissett, and Smith.
Murray is often viewed through a negative lens because he has not lived up to his status as a No. 1 pick and is a controversial character off the field, but the reality is that he is at least a league-average starting quarterback. These are his numbers over the last six seasons (2020-25):
- 93.3 passer rating
- 67.7% completion rate
- 7.0 yards per pass attempt
- 235.7 passing yards per game
- 101 touchdown passes
- 48 interceptions
- 37.3 rushing yards per game
- 28 rushing touchdowns
- 13 lost fumbles
- 0.123 adjusted EPA per play (21st of 45 qualifiers, per RBSDM)
The average version of Kyler Murray would immediately be the Jets’ best quarterback since Chad Pennington, hands down.
Even the absolute worst version of Murray is an upgrade over the laughable options New York will have to turn to if they do not land him. Murray had a career-low 47.2 QBR this past season, yet it was still nearly 4 points better than any of Wentz (43.3), Brissett (41.2), or Smith (34.1).
The bottom line is this: If the Jets are as serious about competing in 2026 as they will try to convince their fan base, they will make the most aggressive push for Murray they realistically can. That does not mean they must land him, as that is ultimately not in their control, but they have to try as hard as possible (within reason).
Murray could have no interest in the Jets. He’d be smart not to, if we’re being honest. After all, he will attract plenty of other suitors, and most of them could offer substantially better coaching staffs and supporting weapons, namely the Minnesota Vikings. If Murray is dead-set on joining a team like Minnesota instead of New York, the Jets just have to live with it.
What the Jets cannot live with is a reality where they allow a quarterback like Murray to walk away without making a serious push, all because they are comfortable with settling for Carson Wentz or Geno Smith in the big 2026.
A team that wants to win does not operate that way.
A team that wants to tank, however, would absolutely operate that way.
The Jets’ tank-or-not-to-tank debate is a fascinating one entering the 2026 season. There are legitimate arguments that tanking the 2026 season might be the Jets’ best route to future success. Many fans advocate for it. Doing so could allow for a fresh start within the coaching staff while setting the Jets up to have their pick of the litter in what many believe will be a strong quarterback class.
Whether or not tanking would benefit the Jets is irrelevant, though, because from an organizational standpoint, it is not the goal—or at least, it shouldn’t be. Quarterback or no quarterback, the Jets are not going anywhere until they break free of their losing habits.
Veteran defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said it best in a post-season interview. It only took the widely respected leader one year to clock the defeatist mentality that shrouds Florham Park.
“We have so many good dudes on the team, and we have a lot of guys who just want to win,” Phillips said at the Super Bowl on Radio Row. “I think because the organization has lost a lot of games year after year and they haven’t seen results or success, you kind of get in this mindset, I feel like, that people were, ‘I believe, I believe, I believe,’ until a certain point, and then it feels like the same old thing as last year.”
Tanking won’t fix that. The Jets cannot rely on a wide-eyed college kid to save them until they save themselves.
New York needs to win games in 2026. Aaron Glenn needs those wins to save his job, of course, but more importantly, the organization needs those wins to break free of the shackles that have increasingly tightened their grip over a 15-year accumulation of pessimism within the building.
Murray is the Jets’ best, and possibly only, chance at getting those wins. If New York willingly allows Murray to waltz to the Vikings (or elsewhere) without at least making the best possible offer, all to happily accept a year of someone like Carson Wentz, they would be perpetuating the losing culture that Phillips criticized.
