Geno Smith Was Drafted by the Jets in 2013. 13 Years Later, He’s Back. Now They’re Going To The Super Bowl.
Geno Smith Was Drafted by the Jets in 2013. 13 Years Later, He's Back. Now They're Going To The Super Bowl.
Aaron Glenn stood at the podium at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting in Phoenix on Sunday and said what nobody expected to hear from a Jets head coach about a 35-year-old quarterback.
“No doubt about it. He’s our guy.”
He was talking about Geno Smith.
The same Geno Smith who was drafted by the Jets in 2013. The same one who threw 21 interceptions as a rookie. The same one who got punched in the face by his own teammate in a locker room fight over $600. The same one who tore his ACL in New York and never started for them again.
That Geno Smith. He’s back. And the Jets are calling him the franchise quarterback.
“He’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land,” Glenn said.
Scary: Jets HC Aaron Glenn believes that Geno Smith will lead the team to a Super Bowl this season.
“He’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land.”
New York football is finally back 🔥👀pic.twitter.com/1cehG3zVK1
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) March 31, 2026
The First Time Around
The Jets selected Geno Smith in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, 39th overall, out of West Virginia. He had earned first-team All-Big East honors as a junior and thrown for 4,205 yards and 42 touchdowns as a senior. He was supposed to be the answer.
His rookie year told a different story. Smith started all 16 games and threw 12 touchdowns against 21 interceptions with a 66.5 passer rating. He showed flashes. He threw for 331 yards against the Bills and became the first rookie quarterback in franchise history to throw for 300 or more yards. But the interceptions kept coming.
In 2014, Smith continued to start but continued to struggle. The Jets weren’t getting better, and the patience around him was running thin.
Then came August 11, 2015.
The Punch
During training camp, a backup linebacker named IK Enemkpali approached Smith in the locker room about $600 that Smith allegedly owed him. Enemkpali had bought Smith a plane ticket to attend his football camp in Texas. Smith couldn’t go because a person close to him had died in a motorcycle accident. Enemkpali wanted his money back. Smith hadn’t paid.
Enemkpali punched Smith in the face. Hard enough to break his jaw.
Head coach Todd Bowles called it a “sucker punch.” Smith was out six to ten weeks. Enemkpali was released immediately. One day later, the Buffalo Bills claimed him off waivers. Rex Ryan, the former Jets head coach, was now coaching in Buffalo.
Smith got another shot in 2016. Fitzpatrick struggled, and Smith was named the starter for Week 7 against the Ravens. He threw for 95 yards and a touchdown before going down with a torn ACL in the second quarter. Season over. His time in New York was done for good.
The Wilderness
What followed was the part of Geno Smith’s career that most people forgot about, because there was nothing to remember.
In 2017, he signed with the New York Giants. Head coach Ben McAdoo benched Eli Manning to start Smith, ending Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive starts. One of the most iconic active streaks in football, over. The Giants lost. McAdoo was fired after the game. Smith made one start and went back to the bench.
In 2018, he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers. He appeared in five games, all in relief of Philip Rivers. The Chargers went 12-4 and made the playoffs. Smith held a clipboard.
In 2019, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks to back up Russell Wilson. He held a clipboard again. He re-signed in 2020. Same role. Then again in 2021. Three straight years sitting behind one of the best quarterbacks in football, watching from the sideline.
Geno Smith was 31 years old. He hadn’t started an NFL game since that one night in 2017 with the Giants. He was a backup’s backup, and most people had forgotten he was still in the league.
The Breakout Nobody Saw Coming
In March 2022, the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to Denver. Suddenly, Geno Smith was the starter.
He didn’t just hold the job. He took it.
In 2022, Smith completed 69.8% of his passes, the highest in the NFL. He threw for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns against 11 interceptions with a 100.9 passer rating. He set single-season franchise records in completions, attempts, yards, and completion percentage. He led the Seahawks to the playoffs. He was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year and was selected to his first Pro Bowl at age 32, in his tenth NFL season.
Nobody does that. Quarterbacks don’t disappear for six years as a backup and come back as the best passer in the league. Geno Smith did. The Seahawks signed him to a three-year, $75 million extension.
In 2023, he made his second straight Pro Bowl. He threw 20 touchdowns against nine interceptions and set an NFL record with seven go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and overtime. His Total QBR ranked first in the league over the final six weeks.
In 2024, he threw for 4,320 yards with a 70%-plus completion rate. Ten wins. He earned $6 million in incentive bonuses.
The Raiders Detour
In 2025, the Raiders traded a third-round pick to Seattle for Smith, who signed a two-year, $75 million extension with Las Vegas. His old coach Pete Carroll was waiting for him there.
It went badly.
The Raiders finished 3-14. Smith threw 19 touchdowns and a league-high 17 interceptions. He was sacked 55 times, tied for the most in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was fired after 11 games. The offensive line gave Smith no time. The run game gave him no support. Las Vegas ranked 31st in points and 30th in total yards.
Carroll later told ESPN that his coaching staff “didn’t do well enough” to give Smith a chance.
After one season, the Raiders were ready to move on.
The Return
On March 10, 2026, the Raiders traded Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. The Raiders agreed to pay the bulk of his salary.
Thirteen years after the Jets drafted him, Geno Smith was back. For the cost of a late-round pick swap.
Smith called it a “complete full circle moment back to where it all began.”
He is 35 years old. He has played for five teams. He has been a starter, a bust, a punchline, a backup, a clipboard holder, a Comeback Player of the Year, a two-time Pro Bowler, and a castoff. He has been punched in the face by his own teammate and sacked 55 times in a single season. He has set franchise records and led the league in interceptions in different years.
And now Aaron Glenn is standing at a podium in Phoenix calling him the promised land.
The Jets Are the Jets
Whether Geno Smith can actually lead the Jets anywhere remains to be seen. He’s 35. His arm, his legs, and his decision-making have all been questioned at various points in his career. His last season was his worst as a starter.
But the career arc is impossible to argue with. A second-round pick who got punched in the face, lost his job, tore his ACL, spent six years as a backup, became the best passer in football at 32, made two Pro Bowls, survived a 3-14 disaster in Las Vegas, and is now back where it all started.
Thirteen years. Five teams. One full circle.
“He’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land.”
The Jets are betting on Geno Smith again. And Geno Smith is betting on the Jets. After everything both sides have been through, that might be the most remarkable part of all.
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
