3 Aaron Rodgers replacements the Jets should already be planning for

The 2024 season is all about maximizing Aaron Rodgers' ability for the New York Jets. It's unclear whether or not that will be the organizational focus in 2025 and beyond. At the very least, the team's front office should be working hard on their future planning for the most important position in the modern NFL.

It will be difficult for the Jets to engineer a trade or sign a high-priced free agent that fits into the team's salary cap structure and can elevate their long-term ceiling. That means the NFL Draft will almost certainly be the vehicle New York uses to land their quarterback of the future. The big outstanidng question is just where the Jets will be able to make their selection when the 2025 draft rolls around.

Rodgers' presence on the roster should win the Jets enough games to keep them away from a top-10 pick. Sheduer Sanders and company will be off the board by then. New York fans should keep a close eye on the following three quarterbacks who could be in line to take over for Rodgers in the next year or two.

Jets future quarterback No. 3: Cam Ward

Ward is not the same sort of elite prospect as guys like Sanders or Quinn Ewers but his dynamism makes him an intriguing option for the Jets. His throwing motion will need work before he's ready to succeed at the next level but his mobility gives him a chance to make explosive plays on the perimeter.

The Miami Hurricanes standout is generating some first-round buzz right now, but he projects to be a signal-caller that won't hear his name called until the back half of Round 1. That should allow the Jets to either use their assigned pick to select him or make a modest move up the board to secure his services.

In an ideal world, Ward could sit behind Rodgers for a full season before being rushed into action. He's not ready to play right away but his long-term potential makes him a tempting prospect for the Jets to take and develop.

Jets future quarterback No. 2: Trey Lance

If the Jets go shopping for a new quarterback in free agency they need to invest in someone with significant upside remaining. Lance hasn't shown nearly enough to justify his lofty draft status coming out of college, but he still possesses the physical traits to be a quality starter.

Again, New York would need to exercise patience if they go with an untested option like Lance. He's only thrown 102 passes as a pro and none since the 2022 season. Expecting him to step in and perform like anything more than a replacement-level starter would be a miscalculation by the Jets' front office.

Lance still has more experience than anyone the Jets can grab in the draft. It's easy to envision New York prying him away from the Cowboys in free agency this offseason. That move won't excite Jets fans but it could be a shrewd, lost-cost acquisition by a franchise that can really benefit from that type of payroll flexibility.

Jets future quarterback No. 1: Jalen Milroe

The Alabama quarterback's draft stock is volatile at this stage of the process. Losing at Vanderbilt in historic fashion did not do anything to improve it in the eyes of NFL decision makers.

It's still almost a certainty that he will hear his name called in Round 1. He posssesses excellent mobility and his accuracy on short and intermediate throws is underrated. His collegiate numbers benefit from an exceptional cost of talent at the wide receiver position but that might be overstated by skeptics of his ability to take his game to the NFL level.

Milroe's draft stock could shoot up as the season goes along to the point where the Jets can't afford to acquire him. Absent that sort of rise, he is just the sort of prospect they should be hoping to evaluate further in the back half of the first round.