Jets GM: ‘Excited’ about Geno Smith’s chances

Are you familiar with the saying, “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one?” Well, the New York Jets have three quarterbacks, and they’re hoping to have four. Do with that what you will.

The Jets have spent the entire offseason dancing around Ryan Fitzpatrick, each hoping the other side will blink in their standstill negotiations. Fitzpatrick put up far better numbers last season than he had over the rest of his career and reportedly wants to be paid in accordance with those numbers, while the Jets want to pay him like last season was an outlier for a joureyman QB that had never previously been more than a below-average starter. And so Fitz has sat on the open market while the Jets spent the offseason with Geno Smith and Bryce Petty as the only quarterbacks on the roster.

Then last week’s draft came around, and the Jets added former Penn State passer Christian Hackenberg to the mix. They used their second-round pick on Hackenberg, something teams don’t normally do unless that at least view the player as a potential starter. The last second-round pick the Jets spent on a quarterback was on Smith, who wound up starting during his first season as a result of an injury to Mark Sanchez.

Smith started for the team in 2013 and 2014, and entered last offseason as the probable starter yet again, but a punch to the jaw from IK Enemkpali thrust Fitzpatrick into the lineup. He never relinquished the spot, even after Smith returned to the field.

The Jets …

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