New York Jets

Projected Cap Space: $67.4 million

Draft Picks: 11

• 1st (No. 2)
• 1st (No. 16, IND)
• 2nd (No. 33)
• 2nd (No. 44, DAL)
• 4th (No. 103)
• 5th (No. 175, comp)
• 5th (No. 178, comp)
• 6th (No. 192, BAL)
• 6th (No. 206, BUF)
• 7th (No. 218, TEN)
• 7th (No. 242, BUF)

Notable Free Agents: 

• G Alijah Vera-Tucker
• RB Breece Hall
• G John Simpson
• LB Quincy Williams
• S Andre Cisco
• WR John Metchie (RFA)
• QB Tyrod Taylor
• K Nick Folk
• DE Micheal Clemons
• S Tony Adams
• S Isaiah Oliver
• WR Josh Reynolds
• WR Tyler Johnson
• DT Jay Tufele
• DT Khalen Saunders

Top Three Needs

1 – Quarterback

Like it has been for years and years, quarterback remains a glaring need for the Jets. Unfortunately it does not seem like the odds are in their favor for fixing it in 2026. There are fewer quality quarterbacks available than usual this offseason. The Jets got the No. 2 pick in a draft class with just one consensus first-round caliber player. Free agency and the trade market look like a minefield with no path out. 

Next year, the outlook is better. The Jets will have three first-round picks in a draft class that should (by default) be more robust. Meanwhile, someone besides Justin Fields is going to be under center for New York in Week 1, as that stab at finding a long-term solution didn’t work for the Jets. Over the last several years, teams have found success buying low on former top picks who haven’t had the game click for them yet. That was the thinking behind signing Fields but the Jets overpaid relative to what his market would be, guaranteeing him $30 million over two years. By mid-October, the team was done with him. 

Former Jets OC Tanner Engstrand was big on quarterback mobility, which played a role in how Fields was targeted. New OC Frank Reich has more traditional preferences, so look for the Jets to target a pocket passer as a bridge option. Some options to know include Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett, Bengals QB Joe Flacco, Raiders QB Geno Smith and Falcons QB Kirk Cousins. 

2 – Wide Receiver

There were a lot of people to blame for the Jets’ 32nd-ranked passing offense last year, one that was nearly 500 yards worse than No. 31. A threadbare receiving corps didn’t help matters. Even when Jets WR Garrett Wilson was healthy, New York struggled to move the ball through the air. Wilson played just seven games and still finished as the team leader in yards (395) and touchdowns (4). No other receiver had more than his 36 catches. 

The Jets made a couple of trades to add to the group in-season, including adding Metchie and WR Adonai Mitchell. Both are under team control (kind of, Metchie is a restricted free agent) and will compete for roles in 2026. New York needs more bodies and more firepower, though. Reich’s offense will be a lot more pass-forward, and the Jets need a receiving corps that can support that. Wilson is a No. 1 talent, but the Jets need to ensure he has a complement who can make defenses pay for focusing on him. 

3 – Defensive Tackle

The Jets have a ton of needs. It would be quicker to list the positions the Jets don’t need help at (offensive tackle, tight end, running back as long as they don’t let Hall walk) than the positions they do. They tore the roster down to the studs at the trade deadline this past year and now they need to build it back up. 

Defensive tackle is as good a place as any other position to start. Once the Jets traded DT Quinnen Williams, it left a huge void in the middle of their defense. He was one of their foundational players and it’s not a stretch to say the defense has been built around him since he was a top pick back in 2019. The Jets made some positive moves by trading for DTs Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs, but they’re rotational role players, not difference-makers like Williams. 

One Big Question

The bar won’t be high for Aaron Glenn but can he clear it? 

Year 1 for Glenn was a disaster, even for a Jets franchise that’s used to seasons spinning off the rails. The struggles of the offense have been enumerated above. Expectations weren’t particularly high but the Jets still managed to underperform on that side of the ball.

Defense was another matter. Glenn’s expertise is on that side of the ball, and the cupboard was a lot more stocked. The Jets had been a top-five defense for three straight years coming into 2025. They had players like Williams, CB Sauce Gardner, DEs Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald IV, LB Quincy Williams and LB Jamien Sherwood. Glenn then had a big hand in adding others like CB Brandon Stephens, S Andre Cisco, third-round CB Azareye’h Thomas and fourth-round S Malachi Moore. 

The results shouldn’t have been as bad as they were. Players like Johnson, McDonald and Sherwood regressed. Stephens and Cisco were busts as signings. Gardner and Williams got dealt away at the deadline. The Jets finished 31st in scoring defense and somehow managed to go an entire season without an interception. 

Had Jets owner Woody Johnson moved on from Glenn after just a season, it would have been understandable. It’s also understandable that he wanted to stay the course with a former player who was a highly regarded (and compensated) coaching candidate just a year ago. But Glenn is burning through his margin for error and Johnson’s infamously thin patience fast. He fired DC Steve Wilks during the season. A few weeks after the season ended, he fired eight more assistants and then a week after that moved on from Engstrand. Coaches who are feeling secure don’t fire both coordinators. 

The lack of job security also impacted who Glenn was able to hire. He’ll take on more on the defensive side and call plays, while on offense he chose Reich whose last stint in the NFL was as the head coach of a 1-10 Panthers team. Neither hire inspires a whole lot of confidence. 

The good news for Glenn is that he just needs to show signs of progress. A winning record won’t be expected given the state of things; six wins would probably even be considered a triumph. The 2026 season has to be about making the vibes better for the Jets. Glenn can’t be picking fights with reporters over petty things like who the starting quarterback for the week is. The team has to be more competitive (they finished the year losing five straight by multiple scores while conceding at least 29 points in every loss). They have to be spunky, like the 2021 Lions in Glenn’s first year as a defensive coordinator. 

Unfortunately even that feels like an uphill battle for the Jets right now.