Jets GM Confirms Justin Fields Will Be QB1 After $40M Contract in NFL Free Agency
New York Jets first-year general manager Darren Mougey put any questions about the team's quarterback position to rest on Sunday.
Per ESPN's Rich Cimini, Mougey declared that Justin Fields will be QB1 for the Jets after signing a two-year deal with the team earlier this offseason to be the successor to Aaron Rodgers following his release.
"We believe Justin is the starter," Mougey told reporters at the annual league meeting. "We believe in Justin. We believe we can win with Justin, so we're excited about Justin."
Fields spent the 2024 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers after being traded from the Chicago Bears, who drafted him with the 11th pick in 2021. He will now be with his third team after agreeing to a $40 million deal with the Jets that includes $30 million guaranteed.
Mougey added that the Jets organization is confident that Fields can follow the career trajectory of quarterbacks like Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield as former first-round picks who found success after bouncing around the NFL.
"We have seen some of that as of late and it did [play a factor] as we went through the process, and we think we could have the same," Mougey said of Fields.
In six starts for the Steelers last season, Fields showed signs of improvement from his early deficiencies. He completed a career-high 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception.
"You saw it last year," Mougey said. "He was 4-2 as the starter and probably had some of the best quarterback play of his career. We're going to do everything to support him when he gets here."
Fields brings new energy to the Jets offense as a dual-threat quarterback in his athletic prime, a stark departure from the 41-year-old Rodgers, who was coming off a torn Achilles that cost him the 2023 season. Mougey called his running ability "a unique athletic skill set that adds another dimension to the game that's hard to defend."
The Jets also have veteran backup Tyrod Taylor and 2024 fifth-round pick Jordan Travis in their quarterback room, but it sounds like it will be Fields' job to lose as the team tries to end its perennial misfortune.
