The Jets have their quarterback.

If Justin Fields is going to succeed in New York, it's on him to develop as a passer,

but it's also on the Jets coaching staff to put him in spots that play to his strengths.

Justin Fields is a jet, and we'll break it down today on Locked On Jets.

You are Locked on Jets, your daily New York Jets podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts Network, your team every day.

Welcome, this is the Locked On Jets podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. It's Tuesday, March 11th, 2025. And I'm your host, John B from Gangreen Nation.com. Thank you so much for making the show your first listener, first watch every day. And a big shout out to you every dayers. This is a daily podcast covered the New York Jets with new episodes each day through the week. We have a big show today. Free agency is underway. The legal tampering period began on Monday at noon Eastern, and that's really the start of free agency. And the Jets entered the legal tampering period without a starting quarterback, and just a few hours in, they found their starting quarterback. It is Justin Fields, a former member of the Chicago Bears and a former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A player of the Jets actually passed on in 2021 with the second overall pick to select Zach Wilson.

Fields was picked by Chicago later in the first round.

The Bears traded up for him.

Things did not really go well for him in Chicago, and he was traded to the Steelers last year. He started the first couple of games, but was unable to beat out Russell Wilson. So it's been a rough go of things for Fields. One thing I will say, though, is despite what happened last year in Pittsburgh, the Steelers apparently wanted to keep him. The Jets and Steelers got into a bidding war for Fields. The Jets ended up landing him on a two-year contract worth $40 million, so $20 million per year. And of that $40 million, $30 million of it's guaranteed. Apparently the Steelers were only willing to go as high as a two-year deal for $30 million, so $15 million a year, and only $20 million of that was guaranteed. So the Jets win a bidding war for Justin Fields. And I'm not going to lie,

this is a little bit more expensive than I thought it would be. I did not think Fields would cost

$20 million a year. But if you look at the going rate for a starting quarterback in the NFL,

it's still pretty affordable. That's at the low end of guys who are not on a rookie contract. So I can't

get on the Jets for the amount that they spent on Justin Fields because

they're not paying Fields franchise quarterback money.

They're paying him low level starter money, which is where he is at this point in time.

But for me, like the money is not the main issue because they didn't go crazy.

You know, I was expecting him to be more like

12 13 14 15 million dollars a year but that's just a few million dollars off and at 20 million

dollars a year you know you're not paying him to be the face of your franchise what you've done is

you've essentially paid him to be a competent starter and if he's more than that well then you've

got yourself a bargain in year two because he's only going to cost 20 million dollars and if he's more than that, well, then you've got yourself a bargain in year two because he's only going to cost $20 million.

...