The Christian Hackenberg Era is over in New York.
The Jets traded Hackenberg, a former second-round pick, to the Raiders on Tuesday afternoon in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2019. Todd Bowles announced the news just hours after Hackenberg ripped the Jets coaching staff for his stagnant development in his first two NFL seasons.
Hackenberg didn't receive a single rep in 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 drills Tuesday as the Jets opened OTAs in Florham Park, N.J. Bowles said that was because the Jets were entertaining trade offers. Josh McCown, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold split the workload three ways.
"We're just going to go with the three quarterbacks we got," Bowles said. "Let these guys battle it out."
Before the trade Tuesday, Hackenberg was candid about what went wrong for him in his first two seasons with the Jets. He sounded very much like a player who wanted out of this particular situation, while discussing the sweeping changes he made to his throwing motion this offseason.
"I think there were some times where I threw it really good throughout my first two years here," Hackenberg said, "so that was the frustrating part for me, is the ups and downs and not knowing why, if that makes sense, and not really getting any information from anybody on how to fix that and how to address it."
According to sources, the Jets engaged in trade discussions with multiple teams over the past couple years, starting in his rookie redshirt season, but were unable to move him. It became clear Tuesday that now was the time to part ways _ though Bowles said Hackenberg's critical comment were not a factor in the timing.
"Hack's a great guy," Bowles said. "He's 23 years old. He should want to play and he's a competitor. So I understand."
Hackenberg is looking forward to his next chapter.
"I'm 23 and I got a lot of ball ahead of me," Hackenberg said earlier Tuesday. "Hell, my career hasn't even started yet. So I'm excited about what the future holds."
