New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas sees greatness in Zach Wilson’s future, despite the fact that the young quarterback will almost certainly be riding the bench next season behind NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers.
During a Tuesday press conference, Douglas described his team’s blockbuster trade for Rodgers, which was announced Monday, as a “great thing” for Wilson, who was a highly touted first-round pick just two years ago.
“Zach’s ceiling is unlimited. The opportunity to shadow and be with a first-ballot Hall of Fame QB will be a great opportunity and experience,” Douglas said, according to NFL reporter Ari Meirov.
Douglas and others with the Jets organization have previously committed to continuing to develop Wilson, who was benched last season amid the Jets’ offensive woes.
They’ve expressed regret that he didn’t have a chance to learn from a veteran during his first two years in the league and, instead, had to carry the franchise on his young shoulders.
“In hindsight, it probably would’ve benefitted (him) just to sit back and learn a little bit and watch a veteran and just kind of grow in this league — kind of in the backseat, watching,” said Mike LaFleur, who served as the Jets’ offensive coordinator last season, in January.
Wilson, however, has pushed back against these comments, stating that he still plans to compete for the starting job.
At his end-of-season press conference in January, he promised to “attack” his work in practice “every single day.”
“I’m going to go out there and do my best to show the coaches I deserve to be there,” Wilson said, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Rodgers, meanwhile, has talked up the value of riding the bench, noting that Wilson will need to show “humility” to overcome the trials of his first two years in the league.
“For (Wilson), it’s just gonna be humility — lean into that — and just consistently working on the fundamentals,” Rodgers said during a January episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” as the Deseret News previously reported. “I think he’s so talented.”
Those comments came before Rodgers officially announced his intention to become a member of the New York Jets and join Wilson in the team’s quarterbacks room.
After several weeks of intense negotiations, the Jets and Green Bay Packers came to terms on a Rodgers trade Monday, which involves the exchange of several top draft picks.
Rodgers is expected to have a physical Wednesday, giving the two teams around 24 hours to finalize his trade ahead of the start of the 2023 NFL draft on Thursday.