NY Jets keeping ‘all options open’ with Sam Darnold after Robert Saleh hire

The NY Jets may have made a decision on their next head coach, but the hiring of Robert Saleh doesn’t solve the other, arguably more notable decision that needs to be made. And that is what to do with Sam Darnold.

Perhaps more specifically, what will the Jets do at the quarterback position?

Darnold is entering his fourth year in the NFL and coming off the worst season of his career. With a golden opportunity to move on with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, there has been plenty of discussion about what the team might do.

Some believe the Jets would be better off sticking with Darnold and either trading down or using the second overall pick to build around him. Others believe that the right choice would be to move on from Darnold and select his replacement.

It’s a conversation that will be repeated again and again over the next three-plus months, and we’re sure to hear different rumors about the issue. But one recent report seems to indicate that no decision has been made yet on Darnold’s future.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported on Saturday that the Saleh hire hasn’t changed anything in regard to the Jets’ plans on Darnold stating that “Joe Douglas will keep all options open with Saleh and staff helping solve the roster puzzle.”

He went on to elaborate stating the following.

“That includes further evaluating Darnold even while Saleh has a favorable view, weighing any potential trade offers for the QB vs. trade offers for the No. 2 overall pick while evaluating the incoming QB rookie class or any other available options.”

The NY Jets haven’t made a decision on Sam Darnold’s future yet

Essentially, no decision has been made yet. The Jets are keeping their options open and will continue to evaluate both Darnold and the upcoming rookie class.

One thing that’s become pretty clear about Douglas is that he’s always willing to listen and entertain all possibilities. We’ve seen that in the past while fielding trade offers and we’ll see it again this offseason.

It should be noted that ESPN’s Adam Schefter did say that he believes Sam Darnold will be the Jets’ quarterback in 2021 shortly after the hiring of Saleh. But again, no one knows for sure.

Douglas and the Jets were notably tight-lipped with the entire coach-hiring process with few, if any, leaks emerging before Saleh was announced as the Jets’ head coach. The same was true for the Jamal Adams trade — there were virtually no leaks before the deal was finalized.

All that is to say that even if Douglas and the Jets have already made up their minds, we won’t find out until just before something happens. Whether that “something” is Darnold being traded or anything else.

No one knows what’s going to happen. But at the very least, it does seem as though Douglas and the Jets are keeping their minds open to any and all options.

Not that we should have expected anything different.