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The future of Zach Wilson in a New York Jets uniform couldn’t be more up in the air for 2024 after head coach Robert Saleh’s comments heading into the final week of the regular season.
Once again, the Jets won’t be heading to the playoffs, furthering the longest active streak in professional sports to 13 straight seasons. A main reason that is the case stems from Wilson’s lackluster performance in Year 3 as a Jet following Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury just four plays into his tenure with New York.
Wilson has been benched numerous times again this season after being demoted twice in 2022. He won’t be the team’s starting quarterback for Week 18 against the New England Patriots either, as he’s yet to clear concussion protocol following a head injury from Week 15’s loss to the Miami Dolphins.
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Saleh gave an update on Wilson’s status during media availability on Wednesday when he was asked about the quarterback’s future next season.
“We’ll see,” Saleh said to the follow-up.
Saleh prefaced that answer with a summary about Wilson’s 2023 campaign, one that proved to be a rollercoaster yet again.
“I thought he had great OTAs, great training camp,” he said. “I thought he battled. He fought. He’s a fighter. He really is. There are things I know he wishes he could have back, I know there are a lot of things that he improved on. Some things were out of his control. I think he’s going to have a long career in this league.”
That career might be elsewhere, especially considering the Jets will have another high pick in the NFL Draft and Rodgers is expected to return for at least the 2024 season.
Wilson has another losing record under his belt as a starter this season, going 4-7 in his 12 games played. It started off well as he was able to muster enough offense to force overtime against the Buffalo Bills, where Xavier Gipson ran back a punt for the victory in extra time.
But the Jets’ defense played a vital role in that victory, getting Bills quarterback Josh Allen to throw multiple interceptions and give the offense a chance to capitalize. That was the case much of this season for the Jets, whose defense was a group that wreaked havoc on opposing offenses despite the record.
For his three years in the league, Wilson is 12-21 as a starter with 6,293 yards (57% completion rate) with 23 touchdowns to 25 interceptions. He’s also fumbled the ball 17 times, 11 of which came this season.
Of course, there’s more to blame than just Wilson for the Jets’ offensive struggles, including a porous offensive line. But with the defense playing out of their minds some weeks to keep their team in games, it’s hard for fans to be happy with Wilson under center after a good sample of work on their team.
But that’s for GM Joe Douglas to figure out heading into the offseason, which is yet another crucial time to figure things out before the 2024 campaign begins.
