Bryce

Petty

Nothing to really see here. Petty signed a guaranteed contract this offseason and was never a lock to be active on the roster. Brock Osweiler and David Fales are Ryan Tannehill’s backups in Miami.

This would be great news for 2015 fourth-rounder Bryce Petty, who likely finds himself at the bottom of the depth chart after the Jets spent a second-round pick on Christian Hackenberg. New York could also decide to move on from Geno Smith if Petty or Hackenberg shows enough in camp to earn the backup role. Petty believes he has made “night-and-day” improvements since last season, but the Jets showed what they thought of his development by selecting Hackenberg.

Mehta is calling this the “Summer of Bryce.” Petty has had a strong preseason, which only complicates the Jets’ already muddled quarterback situation. It would have been easy to move on from Petty but his emergence means the Jets may end up keeping four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. Petty and Geno Smith are battling for the No. 2 role behind starter Ryan Fitzpatrick while second-round pick Christian Hackenberg is a distant fourth on the team’s depth chart.

“Until we make a change there won’t be (a change),” Bowles said. “Right now they’re all playing and we’re trying to see who sorts out what.” Bryce Petty is coming off a big preseason game where he threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns in one half of action, albeit against the Redskins’ backup defense. If Petty wins the No. 2 job, Smith could be placed on the trade block.

As does The New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta, who called Petty a lock. Petty has certainly played well so far in the preseason, and he could be pushing Geno Smith for the backup job. If Petty wins the No. 2 role, that would allow the Jets to trade or release Geno. If he can’t, the Jets are looking at keeping four quarterbacks on the roster.

As expected. There was a small chance the Jets would place Bryce Petty on injured reserve but his shoulder injury isn’t serious enough. In a perfect world, Petty would have won the backup job, allowing the Jets to shop Geno Smith. However, coach Todd Bowles put that possibility to rest by announcing Smith as the No. 2 signal caller on Friday. 2016 will be a redshirt year for disappointing fourth-string rookie Christian Hackenberg.

Petty avoided structural damage, but placing him on I.R. would allow the Jets to keep four quarterbacks while saving a roster spot. The Jets plan to wait until later this week to make a decision. With Christian Hackenberg struggling, losing Petty would make it difficult for the Jets to trade Geno Smith.

X-rays came back negative after Petty left Thursday’s preseason finale, but he needs further testing. In theory, the injury is a blessing in disguise for a Jets team that has four quarterbacks it wants to keep on the roster, but they actually need Petty behind Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith after second-rounder Christian Hackenberg looked utterly not up to the task this summer.

The exam confirmed no structural damage. Petty had a good enough preseason that the Jets are likely listening to trade offers for current No. 2 quarterback Geno Smith. GM Mike Maccagnan has also sounded open to rostering four QBs.

Petty’s only real shot at keeping his roster spot is the Jets keeping four quarterbacks, something that simply doesn’t happen. Absent a Geno Smith trade, Petty’s best-case scenario is putting some good things on film during the final three preseason games and getting flipped for a day-three draft pick.