On the second day of the legal tampering period, the New York Jets made their biggest move of the offseason. The 2026 starting quarterback was a massive question mark after the Justin Fields experiment failed, and the team ended up with the 2nd overall pick, missing out on Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. This is no longer a question, as the answer has been revealed to be none other than former Jets draft pick Geno Smith. On Tuesday, the team sent a 6th- round draft choice to Las Vegas in exchange for the journeyman and a 7th-round draft choice.
Trade: the Raiders are sending QB Geno Smith and a 2026 7th-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for a 2026 6th-round pick, per ESPN sources. Smith returns to the team for which he started his NFL career for in 2013. pic.twitter.com/xp7gvXxYJf
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2026
The Contract Situation
Since the Jets acquired Geno Smith via trade, his contract, hypothetically, was still in place. However, this will end up not being the case. The Raiders, to facilitate this trade, will pay $16.2 million of his 2026 salary. This means that the Jets will only be on the hook for $3.3 million this season. Essentially, what would have happened if the Raiders had ended up releasing him happened anyway.
This Geno Smith contract is extremely advantageous for the Jets, as having a cheap contract at the quarterback position will allow them to process all of the deals they agreed to during the tampering period. The relevant, larger deals that the Jets made include the Minkah Fitzpatrick extension, the Joseph Ossai deal, and the Demario Davis deal. It was also prevalent for the Jets to secure a cheap option at quarterback due to the amount of dead money they are currently paying. The Jets are currently 2nd in the league in dead money at approximately $91 million, only behind the New Orleans Saints. This $91 million figure includes a whopping $35 million to former Jets QB Aaron Rodgers. Other large credits include CB Sauce Gardner ($11 million) and DT Quinnen Williams ($9.8 million). The Jets did exactly what they needed to do given their situation.
How the Rest of the Money May Be Spent
Per OverTheCap, the Jets have around $37 million left in cap space. However, their figure does not factor in the Kingsley Enagbare, Nahshon Wright, Dylan Parham, Andrew Beck, or Max Mitchell deals. Therefore, it’s safe to assume this figure will be significantly less than that $37 million in the coming days. The standard rule to follow is that the team should typically leave around $10 million for draft picks. This does not leave the Jets with much money left on paper while having needs to address still. The saving grace here, though, is that the team has not done any major restructuring yet with players such as Brandon Stephens, Jamien Sherwood, and Garrett Wilson. According to OverTheCap, performing these three moves would save the team approximately $15 million in cap space.
It’s hard to determine the exact amount the Jets will end up with after completing all of these moves, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s say they have $20 million left. What else can they accomplish? The most likely incoming move is for a backup quarterback. The reported first option for the Jets at this spot is former Viking Carson Wentz. He has familiarity with OC Frank Reich. His previous AAV with the Vikings was the league minimum. With a season-ending injury in 2025, he’ll most likely end up with that once again. If this is the direction they go, the Jets could follow that up with a WR addition. There are plenty of middle-tier free agents left at this position. These two contracts would still leave enough for draft picks and for any mid-season moves. This is what the Smith contract enables.
Outlook for 2027
As of right now, Smith does not affect the Jets’ cap situation in 2027. The restructured contract is a 1-year, $3.3 million deal that will make him a free agent after this season. This move, as well as almost every other move Darren Mougey has made since taking over as General Manager, has done an incredible job of setting the team up for the future. The Geno Smith reunion is a cheap bridge into a rookie quarterback that has no effect on 2027. They also have five first-round picks combined in the next two drafts following the big-time trades the team made at the 2025 deadline. Finally, the team is primed to escape all of their dead money next year (pending any new charges created from now until then). If Geno fares well enough in 2026, he could even stick around as the backup in 2027, given all of the money the Jets will have. Overall, the Geno Smith cap implications are extremely positive for the Jets.