Jets sign QB Trevor Siemian from practice squad

The well-traveled veteran has spent seven weeks on New York’s practice squad, signing with the team Sept. 26. Tuesday’s transaction will mark a change for the 31-year-old passer, who has not been a gameday elevation this year for the Jets.

The Jets’ latest Zach Wilson benching will send Tim Boyle into the starter’s role and Wilson down to the third-string level. This is how the Jets proceeded when they initially benched Wilson last year, moving Mike White to the QB1 spot and bumping Joe Flacco above Wilson. 

While Wilson eventually worked his way back to the QB2 position, he only reentered the lineup due to a White injury. Robert Saleh kept the door open for Wilson re-emerging yet again and repeated the expectation (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) the demoted passer will have a good career, but the former No. 2 overall pick has been given considerable time. Through 31 starts, the BYU product has proven incapable of being a viable NFL starter.

Boyle, 29, is by far the least experienced of the Jets’ three healthy quarterbacks. The 2018 Packers UDFA has made three starts and thrown only 120 career passes. Despite Siemian being with the team for nearly two months, Boyle — signed in April to be New York’s third-stringer behind Aaron Rodgers and Wilson — will receive the first start in the wake of Wilson benching No. 3.

Siemian has made 30 career starts, the bulk of them coming in Denver. The Broncos signed off on a historically unusual plan by making Siemian — the third-stringer on their Super Bowl-winning team — their Peyton Manning successor. Siemian beat out Mark Sanchez and Paxton Lynch for that role in 2016 and went 13-11 as Denver’s starter in two seasons. The Broncos, however, traded him to the Vikings after signing ex-Minnesota starter Case Keenum. After a year backing up Kirk Cousins, Siemian signed with the Jets. A season-ending ankle injury sustained during a Week 2 game replacing a mononucleosis-stricken Sam Darnold ended Siemian’s initial Jets stint.

The former seventh-round pick has since been with the Titans, Saints, Bears and Bengals. Siemian lost a preseason competition with Jake Browning to become Joe Burrow‘s backup, a battle that suddenly becomes quite relevant in Southwest Ohio. Although Boyle has been in Nathaniel Hackett‘s system for three years, it would certainly not surprise to see Siemian given a chance for a Jets team (4-6) desperate for a win to stay in the playoff race and keep a potential window for a Rodgers return open.