Following Zach Wilson's disastrous outing in Week 3's loss to the Patriots, the New York Jets are making a change to their quarterback room. As first reported by Adam Schefter, ex-Bears quarterback Trevor Siemian is going to join the team pending a physical.
This preseason, Siemian contested for the backup position behind Bengals' Joe Burrow but lost to Jake Browning. The 31-year-old didn't fare too well in his exhibition preseason games for Cincy, throwing for 316 yards and two interceptions.
Assuming Siemian passes his physical, he'll slide in immediately as quarterback depth for 2023. He'll likely start out on the practice squad, and if he impresses, he may be able to leapfrog current QB2 Tim Boyle.
He spent a one-year stint on the Jets back in 2019 and played just one game; his brief outing was cut short due to an ankle injury.
Hopefully, Siemian can find more success this year surrounded by the team's new weapons under offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
Jets sign veteran QB Trevor Siemian as insurance
Hackett and Siemian have never worked together before. When Siemian was in Denver from 2015 to 2017, Hackett was helping to remodel the Jaguars' offense. When Hackett became head coach in Denver in 2022, Siemian was in Chicago backing up Justin Fields.
Compared to other quarterback options, Siemian admittedly ranks as one of the lower-end passers out there. Barring one productive season in Denver seven years ago, the Northwestern product hasn't proven to be very consistent when called upon.
Then again, the bar in New York is set pretty, pretty low.
Despite Week 3's ugly loss, Jets head coach Robert Saleh has continued to re-affirm his faith in Zach Wilson this season. However, this latest signing could suggest the pendulum is swinging away from total confidence in the former first-rounder and toward securing veteran depth in the quarterback room -- just in case Saleh changes his mind.
