Given how their 2025 season has played out, it's all but assumed the New York Jets will have a different starting quarterback than Justin Fields in 2026.
And that's not to say that Fields has been an abject disaster. His overlying numbers - 64.1 completion percentage, 1,377 total yards, seven total touchdowns, zero interceptions - are solid, but the offensive line has allowed the fourth-most sacks through nine weeks (31), and the team's wide receiver corps is averaging the fourth-worst yards per catch in the league (9.7).
With New York sitting at 1-7 and armed with multiple first-round picks in each of the next two drafts, it's possible the Jets use their stockpiled draft picks to land their next franchise passer.
If they don't like the top prospects in next year's draft, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes they could use some of their draft capital to trade for two-time Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray.
Knox recently proposed the Jets send Fields, a 2026 second-round pick, and a conditional 2027 first-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for Murray, who signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract back in 2022.
"The New York Jets could target a veteran like Murray if they don’t fall within draft range of a top 2026 prospect," Knox wrote. "… Theoretically, the Jets could audition Murray for a year and cut ties in 2027 if he doesn’t elevate the offense.
"The Jets own three 2027 first-round picks and could structure this deal so that they keep the two highest selections if Murray doesn’t return to Pro Bowl form."
The Cardinals have been just as disappointing this season as the Jets, and with Murray shelved for the next four weeks with a foot injury plus backup Jacoby Brissett playing decently in relief, Arizona could look to move on from its former No. 1 overall pick and find a new QB of the future.
The Jets have a much better supporting cast (running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, WRs Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, and Tyler Johnson, and tight end Mason Taylor) compared to what Murray is working with in Arizona, and he could benefit from a fresh start elsewhere.
Trading for Murray would allow the Jets to use both of their 2026 first-round picks to build around him, and if he didn't pan out, the team would still have two first-rounders the following year to use to draft one of the top QBs in that draft class.
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