The New York Jets will play the Pittsburgh Steelers inWeek 2 of the preseason.
Jets quarterback Geno Smith, despite dealing with soreness that caused him to miss the first preseason game, will start. Two veteran quarterbacks who won't play in Friday's exhibition contest are Steelers signal callers Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph.
Rodgers is known well in New York and NFL world. Because of his veteran and former MVP status, no one is shocked to see him sitting out.
Rudolph finds himself in no man's land with the Steelers. They signed him in the offseason before they knew Aaron Rodgers was coming back. They also have sophomore Will Howard, who will start versus the Jets. Oh, they also drafted Drew Allar this year.
Assuming the Steelers aren't willing
to carry four quarterbacks (most teams don't even carry three) into the regular season, Rudolph is the clear-cut odd man out. With the Jets possibly in the market for a veteran No. 2 quarterback, Rudolph becomes an easy candidate to identify. Perhaps those discussions can even occur on Friday, when executives from both teams will be in the same place.
Smith's soreness, though not considered serious, could have the Jets thinking about adding another veteran quarterback. It's been on Darren Mougey's mind all offseason, before rookie Cade Klubnik received an opportunity to outright win the backup job. Klubnik has been impressive this offseason, but adding another veteran would prevent him from playing prematurely, should Smith go down.
Rudolph could emerge as the Jets' target.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Should the Jets trade for QB Mason Rudolph?
