Ryan Fitzpatrick, come on down. You’re the next contestant in the Jets’ four-decade search for an answer at quarterback.
The Jets completed a trade with the Texans on Wednesday to add the 32-year-old Fitzpatrick, sending a conditional draft pick to Houston. The pick is a seventh-rounder in 2016 that can become a sixth-rounder based on Fitzpatrick’s playing time.
Fitzpatrick is not coming to the Jets as a long-term solution, but gives them a cheap (one year left on his contract for $3.25 million) veteran to compete with Geno Smith for the starting job and mentor him along the way. If the Jets draft Oregon’s Marcus Mariota next month, Fitzpatrick would be an ideal teacher for him.
For the Jets, this was a case of finding the best option available in a thin quarterback market. They talked to free agent Brian Hoyer, who chose to sign with the Texans instead. It was Hoyer’s arrival in Houston that made Fitzpatrick available.
Familiarity helped the deal along. New Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan came from the Texans, so he watched Fitzpatrick last season when he started 12 games for Houston.
Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey worked with Fitzpatrick when he was the head coach of the Bills from 2010-12. Fitzpatrick had his greatest success under Gailey in 2011.
The Jets will be Fitzpatrick’s sixth team in his 10-year career. The Harvard graduate spent one season with the Texans. The Texans went 4-5 in his first nine games before he was benched in favor of Ryan Mallett, who was injured in his second start. Fitzpatrick returned for three starts, throwing for six touchdowns in one of those games against the Titans. Fitzpatrick’s season ended when he broke his leg in December. He threw for 2,483 yards with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions last year, completing 63.1 percent of his passes.
“Smart, cerebral, with a quick release,” one league executive said when asked for a scouting report. “He is experienced. Average size. Above average arm. Not a great deep baller. He is good in the quick pass game, has underrated movement. There are flashes of inconsistent location and accuracy. Things can come in spurts. He’ll be turnover-free one game and the next he’ll have a fumble and two interceptions.”
The new regime of Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles is trying to figure out the Jets’ quarterback position like most of their predecessors. They plan on giving Smith a chance to win the job, believing they can get more out of Smith and make the second-round pick the Jets used on him in 2013 worth it.
But Smith will not be handed the starter’s role like he was last year, when the Jets signed Michael Vick but never allowed him to compete for the job. This will be a real competition and it will be interesting to see how Smith responds.
Smith is 11-18 as a starter, getting benched for a three-game stretch last season in favor of Vick. Smith regained the starting job in December and played better down the stretch. He played his best game against the Dolphins in the final game of the year, posting a perfect passer rating.
Fitzpatrick’s biggest issue is the same as Smith — turnovers. He has 101 interceptions in his career and 53 fumbles. The Bills thought he was their long-term answer, signing him to a $59 million contract extension in 2011, but his play declined and they cut him after the 2012 season. He spent 2013 with the Titans.
