PALM BEACH, Fla. —There’s no competition. Justin Fields is the Jets’ starting quarterback. Darren Mougey made that clear at the 2025 NFL Owners Meetings.
They like Tyrod Taylor. They believe he’ll be on Fields’ heels. But, to begin 2025, this is Fields’ team.
Good. It’s the right call.
It’s unclear if Fields will work out. He might not hold the job throughout the season. But he deserves this chance.
More importantly: The Jets can now proceed knowing exactly what their offense should look like.
“We believe we can win with Justin Fields,” Mougey said.
No one would fault the Jets if they entered camp with an open competition. Yes, Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract as a free agent, but $20 million per year is chump change in today’s quarterbacking landscape.
The 35-year-old Taylor is among the most respected players within the Jets locker room (or any locker room that he’s in). He received captaincy votes as Aaron Rodgers‘ backup a year ago. There are some around the NFL, familiar with both players, who believe that Taylor is the better of the two.
But that doesn’t matter. With Fields, you have a lottery ticket. There’s a chance that his career takes a similar route as Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold or Geno Smith — someone who failed his first few stops before finally finding success.
The Jets are giving Fields a chance with that — a vote of confidence that they feel he’s the guy.
More importantly, they can now construct an offense entirely around his strengths.
“We’re excited about Justin’s potential,” Mougey said.
There are few in the NFL with Fields’ skill set. The arm strength is there. The accuracy is there (at times).
His athleticism is what truly sets him apart, though. He ran for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022. He had 657 and four scores in 2013.
The Bears and Steelers failed to develop Fields’ processing and overall field awareness to marry that with the more traditional quarterbacking responsibilities.
Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand will try in New York. Worst case? Fields as this team’s starter allows it to not plug him into a role and instead put those around him to amplify his strengths.
Taylor is a different quarterback than Fields. Taylor is also mobile but far more refined as a passer. He can operate in just about any offense.
Maybe Fields gets to that point. More likely: Fields is best in a run-oriented, control-the-clock, play-action, throw-when-you-have-to scheme.
If you know that’s what you’d like to run going in — plan for it. Make that your identity. A quarterback competition doesn’t provide stability until you pick one or the other. The Jets now have their guy.
It’s Fields.
And Fields is the right call.
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