Geno Smith has returned to the Jets. It’s a reunion that can be mutually beneficial. The Jets need a stabilizing quarterback, and Smith needs a reboot. After a tumultuous 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders where he threw an NFL-leading 17 interceptions and his team finished 3-14 (tied with the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans for the worst record in the league), Smith and the Jets are wedded again — albeit for a short-term commitment.
The Jets acquired Smith on Tuesday from the Raiders, trading a 2026 sixth-round pick and receiving the 35-year-old veteran along with a seventh-round pick in next month’s draft. He will provide Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey, both of whom were rookies in their respective positions, a competent presence under center who can be a valuable source of their job security as the duo has a mandate to develop a team that shows demonstrable progress in the second year of their tenure.
Smith was selected by the Jets in the second round (39th overall) out of West Virginia in 2013 and played 33 games for them from 2013 to 2016, starting 30 of them. He tore an ACL in Week 7 in 2016. The most unfortunate — and perhaps defining moment of his tenure with the Jets — was sustaining a broken jaw after being punched by teammate IK Enemkpali in the Jets’ locker room in August 2015.
He had inconsequential stops with the Giants in 2017 and Los Angeles Chargers in 2018 before a career epiphany with the Seattle Seahawks, becoming a two-time Pro Bowler (2022 and 2023) and the 2022 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. The Seahawks, who won the Super Bowl last month with former Jets first-round pick, quarterback Sam Darnold, at the controls, traded Smith to the Raiders in March 2025 for his lone season with Las Vegas.
“Complete full circle moment back to where it all began,” Smith told the NFL Network on Tuesday via text. ”I’m excited to connect with my new teammates and coaches and everyone in the building as well as build a new relationship with the fanbase and community.”
The Jets, who have two first-round picks (Nos. 2 and 16) in April’s draft, will install Smith as the starter and build out their roster focusing on other positions of need, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where they ranked 31st out of 32 teams in points allowed (29.6) per game. Currently holding three first-round picks in next year’s draft, they will use that capital on securing what they hope will be their long-term franchise QB.
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