The quarterback drama overwhelmed the New York Jets last season. With the falling out with Geno Smith, the NFL team opted to go with Ryan Fitzpatrick throughout the year. While the New York Jets attempted to take a shot at the Super Bowl 50 then, both quarterbacks tried to outperform each other in the gridiron. Between the two, Fitzpatrick remained supreme. However, it looks like Smith might be getting his old starting job back.
The contract issues surrounding the negotiations between the New York Jets and Fitzpatrick have been plaguing the NFL team throughout the offseason. While the quarterback sees to it that his demands are met, the football team looks to be searching for a way out of the tricky situation. Amid the speculations that the New York Jets might cave in to the terms of Fitzpatrick soon, a solutions arose - Geno Smith.
Despite the notable performance of Fitzpatrick last NFL season, Smith was not far behind in the rankings. Hence, some fans believe that the current backup quarterback might be the answer to the contract drama of the New York Jets. That is, the NFL team could choose to go for Smith as oppose to sacrificing a huge chunk of their cap space for Fitzpatrick.
"I wasn't here when Geno was a starter, but Geno did have a very good offseason for us last year," said Mike Maccagnan. The New York Jets general manager added, "At the time of the whole incident, [he] was technically ahead of Ryan going into preseason. We never had the benefit of Geno working through the preseason, competing with Ryan, to see how that would've unfolded. That incident, when it happened, it was very unfortunate because we felt Geno had a very good offseason that year. The whole incident within the locker room obviously changed everything."
Maccagnan further noted, "I thought [Smith] did some things well in that game. I know there are some plays he would obviously like to have back. We haven't really had him as a starter for us, but he would definitely be a possibility to step into that role [if Fitzpatrick leaves]. Geno did do some good things, and we'll see how it unfolds. The way the season unfolded last year for him, he never really had a chance to go out there and compete for the job. So he's a bit of an unknown, really."
The comments from the New York Jets general manager fueled the fans' speculations on the possibility of putting Smith back in the starting role. Notwithstanding the disciplinary issue of punching a fellow football player last NFL season, Smith has been a notable member of the team.
"We do have, like every team does, contingency plans," shared Maccagnan of the possibility of putting Smith in the starting lineup again. He added, "That's just what you prepare for. I don't necessarily want to get into who we have lined up as our contingency plan because we don't want to necessarily tell other teams what we're going to do."
Apart from Maccagnan, Smith also got commendations from Todd Bowles. The New York Jets head coach shared his confidence that Smith already learned from his tumultuous last season. Bowles said that the incident, which subsequently pushed Fitzpatrick to the frontlines, allowed Smith to grow both professionally and personally.
"He always worked hard," Bowles described Smith. "But he kept his head down and kept working and he moved on. And that's tough to do. That's tough to do."
