QB Wilson out, perhaps ending tenure with Jets

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterJan 3, 2024, 01:54 PM ET
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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Quarterback Zach Wilson‘s third season with the New York Jets is over, and the team is talking like there won’t be a fourth.

The No. 2 pick in 2021 remains in the concussion protocol, the Jets said Wednesday, and will miss his third straight game Sunday — the season finale against the New England Patriots. Trevor Siemian will start again.

Wilson is under contract for 2024, but it appears as if the Jets are ready to find a new backup for Aaron Rodgers next season. Coach Robert Saleh said he expects Wilson, 24, to have a long career in the NFL, but he was noncommittal when asked about the quarterback’s future with the Jets.

“We’ll see,” Saleh said. “It’s all things that we’re going to have talk about once the season’s over, but whether it’s here or somewhere else, I believe he’s going to have a hell of a career.”

The Jets thought Wilson would solve their decades-long problem at quarterback, but the former BYU standout struggled in two seasons as the starter and was replaced last offseason by Rodgers. The plan was to have him learn at Rodgers’ side, setting up a succession plan, but everything changed on the fourth play of the first game. Wilson was pressed into action when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, and he wound up getting benched in Week 12.

“We were hoping … to give him that one year to watch Aaron play football, and learn and grow with all the different things that come with the scheme,” Saleh said. “It’s unfortunate, four plays in, what happened, but I think he’s made tremendous improvements from a year ago. I do. It’s just an unfortunate series of events that occurred.”

The Jets (6-10) could look to trade Wilson, hoping to recoup a late-round draft pick. He’s due to make a guaranteed $5.5 million in salary and bonuses in 2024, the final year of his four-year, $35 million rookie contract. The Jets have until early May to decide on whether to exercise his fifth-year option for 2025, but they’re expected to decline the option.

“I thought he had great OTAs, a great training camp,” Saleh said, summarizing Wilson’s season. “I thought he battled. He fought. He’s a fighter, he really is. Obviously, there are things that I know he wishes he could have back. I know there are a lot of things that he improved on. Some things were out of his control, but I’ve said it and I’ll say it again: I think he’s going to have a long career.”

Wilson’s three seasons have been tumultuous. He was handed the starting job as a rookie — a move the organization now regrets — and was benched twice last season, prompting the Jets to trade for Rodgers. This season, he went 4-7 as the starter, finishing with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s ranked 30th out of 30 qualified passers with a 30.4 Total QBR. It was a difficult situation, as he played behind an ever-changing offensive line and a receiving corps with only one true go-to receiver, Garrett Wilson.

He delivered the best performance of his career in his last complete game, passing for 301 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-6 rout of the Houston Texans on Dec. 12. The next week, Wilson — under siege against the Miami Dolphins — lasted less than two quarters. He was ruled out with a concussion. He hasn’t spoken to the media since, but his mother, Lisa Wilson, said in a social media post that her son experienced blurred vision and depth-perception issues during the game.

Wilson hasn’t played since. During interviews this season, he has acknowledged that his career hasn’t panned out as hoped. After his big game against the Texans, he said it “felt like we were finally playing football. I think in my three years, I hadn’t felt like that, unfortunately, enough.”

Siemian, in the league since 2015, believes Wilson has to the physical tools to be a successful quarterback.

“He’s got all the traits that you want to be good for a long time – and then some,” Siemian said. “He’s got some of that extra stuff that a lot of guys don’t have.”