If Bryce Petty was following the NFL Draft last week, then he probably wasn't too surprised to find out on Thursday that the Jets no longer need his services.
According to ESPN.com, the Jets have decided to part ways with Petty in a move that comes exactly one week after the team selected Sam Darnold with the third overall pick in the draft. The move shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After the Darnold pick, the Jets had five quarterbacks on their roster and there was no way the team was going to move forward with that number, which left Petty as the odd man out.
The Jets had previously made it pretty clear that they were looking to get rid of Petty. Just last week, the team was apparently open to trading the 2015 fourth-round pick. If you're wondering why Petty got the axe and not Christian Hackenberg, that most likely has to do with the fact that the Jets aren't quite ready to give up on Hackenberg, who was a second-round pick in 2016.
Of course, there's a good chance that Hackenberg will also be on the chopping block in the very near future. The Jets will almost certainly only have three quarterbacks on their roster in 2018, which means either Hackenberg or Teddy Bridgewater will likely get cut at some point since Josh McCown and Darnold are both pretty much locks to make the roster. Although Bridgewater is the more talented quarterback, the Jets could stick with Hackenberg if they don't feel like Bridgewater is 100 percent healthy.
As for Petty, he started seven games over three years in New York and went 1-6. The 26-year-old started the final three games of the 2017 season for the Jets after McCown broke his hand and things got kind of ugly during those three weeks. Not only did the Jets go 0-3, but Petty threw just one touchdown compared to three interceptions while completing less than 50 percent of his passes (49.1 percent). Overall, Petty threw four touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his seven starts with the Jets.
