Geno Smith is making a full-circle return to the New York Jets, who found their new starting quarterback by reaching back into their past.
The Jets are acquiring Smith — who was the team's second-round draft pick in 2013 — from the Las Vegas Raiders, a person familiar with the trade told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
New York is also getting a seventh-round pick and sending a sixth-rounder to Las Vegas in the deal, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because it can’t become official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
Las Vegas likely has its sights set on Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana quarterback widely expected to go No. 1 in the NFL draft. Smith's days with the Raiders appeared well over before the trade, even if it meant releasing him.
Now, though, the Raiders get something in return, adding more options to a draft haul that includes 11 picks.
And the Jets, who are looking to rebound from a 3-14 first season under Aaron Glenn, have their starting quarterback.
ESPN reported that the Jets and Smith agreed on a renegotiated contract, which had two years and $66 million remaining.
New York still has Justin Fields, who started nine games in his first season with the team, but he'll now be in a backup role — if he's not released. The Jets could look to add another veteran backup. Tyrod Taylor is scheduled to be a free agent, leaving Brady Cook — who struggled while starting the final four games as a rookie — and Bailey Zappe on the roster with Smith and Fields. The Jets could also look to draft a quarterback they can develop.
Smith will hope to find some of the magic he had in Seattle, where he revived his career under coach Pete Carroll. He quarterbacked the Seahawks to three consecutive winning seasons.
After the Raiders hired Carroll last year, one of his first moves was to bring Smith to Las Vegas. It didn't work out as either planned. Smith was sacked 55 times behind a shaky offensive line and threw 17 interceptions — both league highs last season.
Carroll was fired after the season.
With the Jets, Smith will work with offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who was hired by Glenn in January to run the offense. New York has some playmakers for Smith to work with, including wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who's coming off a knee injury, and running back Breece Hall, who received the franchise tag after rushing for more than 1,000 yards for the first time in his four NFL seasons.
It's an intriguing next stop on a long and sometimes strange NFL journey for the 35-year-old Smith, who became the Jets' starter as a rookie after incumbent Mark Sanchez injured a shoulder in a preseason game. Smith was up and down, but showed some promise before having his jaw broken in a dispute in the locker room with teammate IK Enemkpali during training camp in 2015. Ryan Fitzpatrick took over as the starter and kept the job for most of the next two seasons.
Smith, who tore an ACL during the 2016 season, spent the next season with the Giants — where he made headlines when then-coach Ben McAdoo chose to start him against the Raiders, ending Eli Manning's 210-game consecutive starts streak.
Smith then spent a year with the Chargers before signing with the Seahawks and reviving his career, first as a backup to Russell Wilson. He took over as Seattle's starter in 2022 when Wilson was traded to Denver, and Smith was the NFL's AP Comeback Player of the Year after throwing a career-high 30 TD passes.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection has thrown for 22,168 yards with 124 touchdowns — 28 with the Jets — and 89 interceptions.
Smith is the second familiar face to return to New York since the NFL's legal tampering period of free agency began Monday. The Jets agreed to terms with linebacker Demario Davis, a third-round pick in 2012, on a two-year contract worth $22 million, with $15 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP. He spent the past eight seasons in New Orleans and this will be his third stint in New York.
Until the Smith deal, the Jets had focused on the defense with a trade for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from Miami highlighting a busy first day that included deals for Davis, defensive tackle David Onyemata and edge rushers Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare.
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FILE - Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) leaves the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Dec. 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI said it found explosive residue in a Pennsylvania storage unit as part of an investigation into two men charged with bringing homemade bombs to a protest outside the home of New York City’s mayor.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, told police after their arrests Saturday that they were inspired by the Islamic State group, according to law enforcement officials and a criminal complaint.
The men live in the Philadelphia suburbs and traveled together to New York City to carry out the attack near Gracie Mansion in Manhattan, officials said. In response to police questioning, Balat said he hoped to accomplishing something “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people, the complaint said.
Overnight Monday, FBI bomb technicians conducted controlled detonations of the explosive residue found at a public storage facility in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, near where Balat’s family lives, the agency said.
The explosion resulted in “several loud bangs,” the Middletown Township Police Department said Tuesday, adding that there was no threat to residents. The FBI said Monday that it had conducted multiple searches in connection with the investigation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday called the attack "absolutely despicable" and said government investigators and prosecutors won’t rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Much remains unknown about the motives, planning and relationship between Balat and Kayumi.
Court documents show Emir Balat’s father, Selahattin Balat, is a native of Turkey who was granted asylum in the United States in 1998 and later became a U.S. citizen. In a 2009 bankruptcy filing, he listed his occupation as painter and said he had three children.
Emir Balat is a senior at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne. A school spokesperson said he enrolled in a virtual program in September and had not attended in-person classes since.
His lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said his client had “complicated stuff going on” in his personal life, without elaborating. Essmidi said he did not believe the two young men had known each other for long.
Kayumi is from Newtown, about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) north of Langhorne. He graduated in 2024 from Council Rock High School North, according to a school spokesperson.
His attorney did not speak to reporters following a court hearing Monday and declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.
Prosecutors, police and FBI officials say Balat and Kayumi drove to New York City on Saturday and joined a throng of counterprotesters at a small, anti-Muslim rally organized by the far-right Christian nationalist Jake Lang.
Journalists photographed Balat hurling a device, smoking with a lit fuse, that was later found to contain the explosive TATP. The object, which also contained nuts and bolts, extinguished itself without harming anyone.
Balat then dropped a second object near some police officers and tried to run, but was tackled and arrested, according to a court complaint.
Balat and Kayumi were being held without bail after their court appearance on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. They were not required to enter a plea.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday there were no indications that the attack was connected to the ongoing war in Iran, but said the city remained on a heightened state of alert.
On Tuesday afternoon, a park near the mayor’s residence was evacuated and several surrounding streets were closed as police investigated reports of a “suspicious device.”
The object was later determined to be non-threatening.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani was not home at the time and Gracie Mansion was not evacuated, a City Hall spokesperson said.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.
Jake Lang demonstrates outside Gracie Mansion after a news conference by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani , Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Emir Balat, left, and Ibrahim Kayumi, far right, are escorted into Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, March, 9, 2026, for arraignment on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction after they were arrested for bringing and throwing explosives at a protest two days earlier. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
From left, defense attorney Mehdi Essmidi, defendant Emir Balat, defense attorney Michael Arthus and defendant Ibrahim Kayumi wait for the start of arraignment proceedings in Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, March, 9, 2026, on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction in New York after Balat and Kayumi were arrested for bringing and throwing explosives at a protest two days earlier. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
