The New York Jets signed Hendon Hooker to the practice squad, which gives the Jets an opportunity to take advantage of a rule in 2026, if they were so inclined.
It’s said that you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but the 2026 Jets could be in a position to do close to breaking that old cliche. If they’re not in a position to draft a quarterback with their first pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, they could wait until the pick they acquired from the Colts and draft a player like Duke quarterback Darian Mensah.
Mensah is a developmental player, and he shouldn’t start right away, and maybe he doesn’t even have to be the immediate backup either (if he were drafted by the Jets).
Hooker signing with the practice squad means he’s eligible for the Jets to sign him to a reserve/futures contract in January once the season ends. Brady Cook is already signed for 2026, but has no guaranteed money, and neither would Hooker on a reserve/futures deal. That would give the Jets two quarterbacks for training camp.
Right now, the Jets have $30.4 million tied up in dead cap charges for Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor. The likely release of Justin Fields adds another $13 million to that when they use a post-June 1 designation. Upon release, Fields will cost $22 million from 4 PM on March 11 through 4 PM on June 1. Then, he will cost the Jets $13 million in cap space in 2026 and $9 million in 2027.
Cook and Hooker would each cost the Jets $1.005 million in cap space during camp, and one would presumably be cut during this experiment. Then there’s the starting quarterback.
During free agency, the best option will be Malik Willis. Willis is a backup quarterback with starting potential. He could also be a bridge quarterback for the Jets. With the QB2 on the books at $1.005 million, that puts the Jets total at $43.405 million in cap space for the quarterbacks.
Let’s look at a potential contract for Malik Willis.
Terms: 1 year, $8 million, fully guaranteed
Base Salary: $1.215 million
Signing Bonus: $6.785 million
Incentives: $2 million
Cap Charge: $2,572,000 ($5,428,000 dead in 2027)
Contract voids on the first day of the 2027 league year
Incentive schedule (non-cumulative)
50% snaps: $250k
65% snaps: $250k
80% snaps: $250k
95% snaps: $250k
Wild Card Round win or Bye: $250k
Divisional Round win: $250k
AFC Championship win: $250k
Super Bowl Win: $250k
In June, in this scenario, Darian Mensah falls to the Jets pick acquired from the Indianapolis Colts in the trade for Sauce Gardner. Right now, that stands at 18th overall. According to Over the Cap, this is what the fully guaranteed contract for the 18th overall pick looks like.
This would mean the third-string quarterback, in this scenario, would make $13,032,968 in 2026, and the backup would make $1.005 million. That said, the Jets should take advantage of developing a player like Mensah while also giving him a chance to play if needed, but not necessarily having to force him into action too early.
How would they do this?
In 2023, the NFL brought back the emergency quarterback rule. This allows teams to dress three quarterbacks for a game, but the designated third quarterback is not eligible to play unless the other two are out of the game via injury and/or disqualification.
The catch is that Mensah would have to be on the 53-man roster. So, the Jets would carry three quarterbacks.
The Jets would be killing two birds with one stone. Willis could become a starting quarterback, but they also have their guy in tow if Willis isn’t that guy.
If Willis is their guy, Mensah could be a backup for a year or two (2027-28), then the Jets could trade him to another team.
Scenarios:
Malik Willis becomes the starting quarterback of the Jets long-term. Then the Jets trade Darian Mensah after the 2027 season, absorbing a dead cap charge of $6,073,984. The acquiring team exercises the fifth-year option, giving them three years to see what Mensah has.
Malik Willis becomes a viable bridge option who isn’t quite starter material, but holds the Jets afloat for 2026. Darian Mensah becomes the starting quarterback near the end of 2026 (like Mahomes did for the Chiefs) or in 2027. The Jets have four years to find out if Mensah is their QB of the future (with the fifth-year option). Willis earns $1 million of his $2 million in incentives, and the Jets take a $1 million adjustment in 2027. With Fields, that a total of $10 million lost on quarterbacks not on the Jets roster in 2027.
Either way, the Jets can have a solid plan moving forward at quarterback. Time will tell whether or not it works, but they can have a viable and clear plan of attack.