We already knew that the New York Jets signed former New York Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor during free agency.
However the new offseason edition of “Hard Knocks” provided some interesting new details in episode 3 on Tuesday, July 16.
During the legal tampering period, Giants GM Joe Schoen had a one-on-one conversation with head coach Brian Daboll about the team’s plans for the quarterback position on the open market.
Schoen tells Daboll that Taylor “is their No. 1 backup [quarterback option].”
Schoen then starts going through all of the potential options in free agency. He mentioned Gardner Minshew, Drew Lock, and Sam Darnold. After going through all of those names and what they could cost, Daboll responds, “I would take Tyrod over all of these guys.”
Schoen then says, “We’ll try to get Tyrod done right now.”
They never did. Instead, Taylor ended up choosing the Jets.
After the absolute disaster that was the 2023 season, the Jets had to do everything in their power to upgrade the backup quarterback position.
General manager Joe Douglas was aggressive in making sure he landed his guy in Taylor. It required a two-year deal for $12 million, $6 million annual salary, and it included $8.5 million in total guarantees.
That new deal put Taylor among the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in football, per Over The Cap.
Consider that course correction after the Jets gave the No. 2 quarterback job to Zach Wilson last offseason. Spoiler alert, it didn’t go well and the season collapsed very quickly after Aaron Rodgers blew out his Achilles
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