Robert Saleh says Zach Wilson still has a future with the Jets: ‘We’re not quitting on the young man’
Zach Wilson’s run in 2022 with the Jets is over, barring injury. He was dropped to the No. 3 quarterback spot on the depth chart for the second time this season after Mike White was cleared to return to action and was confirmed as the starter Monday by head coach Robert Saleh not just for Week 17 against the Seahawks but for the rest of the season.
Saleh isn’t ready to say Wilson’s run with the Jets as a whole is over. At least, that’s what Saleh is saying publicly.
Saleh said he still believes Wilson has a future with the Jets and refuted the report over the weekend by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports that the Jets are prepared to move on from Wilson after the season, calling the report “all speculation.”
“He’s a huge plan in our future,” Saleh said. “We’re not quitting on the young man. We’re going to do everything we can do to develop him.”
Saleh added: “I don’t think he’s looking at this saying it’s an impossible hill to climb. We’ve still got a lot of faith in him and his ability to work.”
The Jets went 5-4 during Wilson’s starts this season, but the numbers just weren’t there. Wilson threw only six touchdown passes in his nine starts this season while posting seven interceptions. It wasn’t until the Detroit game in Week 15 that Wilson finally took over the team lead in passing touchdowns with his sixth of the season, surpassing the five Joe Flacco threw in the first three weeks of the season.
Wilson ranks 32nd among qualifying quarterbacks — quarterbacks with at least 14 attempts per team’s games played — in quarterback rating at 72.8. By the way, that’s out of 32 quarterbacks. The only other qualifying quarterbacks with a rating below 80 are Davis Mills (79.0) and Kenny Pickett (75.7).
If the Jets are able to find a trade partner for Wilson, the acquiring team would take on what essentially amounts to a two-year contract worth about $9.3 million fully guaranteed. The Jets would eat about $1.9 million in salary cap space by trading him. Compared to other quarterback trades, that’s peanuts.
The offseason will be quite an interesting one for the Jets regarding the quarterback position. For now, though, it’s about Mike White at quarterback and the Jets trying to sneak into the playoffs by winning their last two games and hoping for a little bit of help.
