4 QB options if the NY Jets miss out on Aaron Rodgers

4. The NY Jets can sign a mid-tier veteran and draft a quarterback

This is the "all else failed, last-resort option. The Jets will do their best to swing for the fences if they can't land Rodgers. They'll explore every possibility and make calls about every high-end quarterback that is or isn't on the market.

But if all else fails, if the Jets are unable to land the other players on this list, they could resort to the fringe starter market in free agency with the goal of pairing that player with a draft pick.

We're talking about players in that Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, and Baker Mayfield tier. Players who can perform well under certain circumstances but are little more than fringe starters/high-end backups.

Obviously, this is a disastrous situation for the Jets to find themselves in. There is no good outcome here, but there are less bad outcomes.

Dalton and Brissett both played significantly better than most have given them credit for last season. Brissett and Dalton finished as Pro Football Focus' sixth and seventh-highest-graded quarterbacks in 2022.

PFF grades aren't everything, of course, but Brissett did finish top-10 in ESPN's QBR, while Dalton ranked seventh in passer rating. They may not have put up gaudy numbers, but they were both certainly serviceable starters.

Pairing one of them with a rookie quarterback, possibly even in the first round, would be one way to potentially mitigate an otherwise awful scenario.

The Jets don't want to find themselves in this situation, but at least it's better than trotting out Zach Wilson for another season — not that that should be the bar.