The Jets finally added a veteran to their quarterback room on Wednesday, signing journeyman Josh Johnson.
The Jets had been rolling with three quarterbacks who had zero NFL snaps among them — first-round pick Zach Wilson, Mike White and James Morgan. This is Johnson’s second stint with the Jets. He was with the team for 10 days during the 2015 training camp.
The 35-year-old Johnson last played in a regular-season game in 2018 with Washington. The Jets coaching staff has familiarity with Johnson after he spent time in 2020 on the 49ers practice squad. Johnson has changed teams 17 times in the NFL and has also played in the XFL, AAF and UFL.
It sounds like the Jets are bringing Johnson in with the idea that he can take some of the training camp load off of the other quarterbacks, but Saleh made it clear he is not leapfrogging White and Morgan on the depth chart.
“Josh, obviously, he’ll be here, he’s going to get his work in. But we’re not going to stop the development of James Morgan and Mike White,” Saleh said. “They’re getting their run, they’re getting their practice reps, they’re going to get the preseason games and all that stuff, not to say Josh won’t. Obviously, he’s got to spend these next couple of weeks catching back up and learning the nuances of this scheme as opposed to Kyle’s [Shanahan]. It shouldn’t take him long, but over these next couple of weeks and making sure that these quarterbacks, Mike and James, get every opportunity to showcase what they’ve done and showcase to everybody how good they’ve gotten.”
The Jets waived linebacker Brendon White to clear a roster spot for Johnson.