The New York Jets chose former USC quarterback Sam Darnold on the first night of the draft in their latest attempt to find a franchise quarterback. The Jets also have Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater under contract for the 2018 season, so quarterbacks selected by the Jets in the draft in recent years may not be long for their roster.
That puts Bryce Petty (fourth round, 2015) and Christian Hackenberg (second round, 2016) squarely on the trade block. And while we don't know if there's any interest in Hackenberg just yet, it appears teams are calling the Jets to ask about Petty. According to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, the Jets resisted similar inquiries prior to last season.
During his two seasons with the Jets, Petty has compiled a 1-6 record as a starter, completing 53 percent of his passes and averaging 5.5 yards per attempt while throwing just four touchdowns against 10 interceptions. He said after the 2015 season that he was using "Madden" to learn how to read defenses, which he never did while in college at Baylor.
It's difficult to imagine the Jets getting much more than a conditional late-round pick for Petty, considering when he was drafted himself and his performance since then, but you never know. In the meantime, the Jets will have to figure out how to manage Darnold, McCown, and Bridgewater. McCown seems like the likely starter at the beginning of the season, but we know Darnold is the future.
McCown knows it, too. He's far closer to the end of his career than the beginning, so much so that his new teammate is less than a year older than his oldest daughter.
If the Jets don't wind up trading Petty and/or Hackenberg, it doesn't seem likely they'll be on the roster come the start of the season, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them released.