As bad as the 2025 season was for the New York Jets, their 2026 offseason has been widely celebrated around the league.

Gang Green has made 11 veteran acquisitions in March to raise the team’s floor heading into 2026. The hope now is that, with a raised floor, improvement will come in the win column for the organization’s desperate fans.

While fans remain somewhat guarded about the moves New York has made, most NFL analysts believe the team should be celebrated this offseason.

One move, in particular, is becoming more appreciated by the day.

Jets’ top offseason addition

Zachary Pereles of CBSsports.com came away with early grades for each team in the offseason. The Jets were given an “A” grade courtesy of their shrewd moves all of March.

Highlighted above the rest of those moves? The trade for former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith.

“The Smith trade is a win,” Pereles said. “No matter what you think of the quarterback himself, the Jets moved down just 20 spots in the draft [swapping a sixth-round pick for a seventh-round pick coming from the Raiders] and are still only paying a small part of Smith’s salary. He struggled in 2025, but so, too, did the Raiders. He should be at least viable for New York.”

New York is paying Smith just over $3 million this season to be their starting quarterback. As a passer, he provides a higher floor than that of Justin Fields last season.

With his arrival, the Jets’ dismal passing production from the 2025 season should see a significant upgrade.

Smith wasn’t the only move celebrated, either. New York addressed several important needs this offseason, and almost all of them have been widely paraded.

Offseason outlook

Pereles broke New York’s offseason down into one basic point:

Are the Jets better now than they were at the start of the offseason?

The answer, of course, is a resounding yes.

“The Jets show a deep understanding of who they are: a team that first has to get serious in order to build under [head coach] Aaron Glenn after 2025,” he wrote. “With a bevy of extra first-round picks on the way [3 in 2027], the Jets are moving in the right direction, even if they’re still a ways from competing.”

New York’s job this offseason was not only to improve the team’s floor, but also to put themselves in a position where they can be flexible over the next several years. They have five first-round picks in the next two drafts and are projected to have over $150 million in cap space next offseason.

The contracts dished out, as well, show a team that didn’t overpay for any one player. Instead, they built the team on market-value deals that will either age well or simply be left to the open market.

Pareles isn’t the only analyst celebrating what the Jets have done. Time will tell, though, whether Smith’s acquisition leads to more wins than last season.

But it is clear that the team is better than it was, and that is the only thing that should matter at this point.