FLORHAM PARK, N.J. _ The Jets finally have their quarterback of the future.
Rookie Sam Darnold and the Jets agreed to a contract on Monday, ending a dispute that has kept Darnold out of practice since the start of training camp.
Darnold, the third overall pick in April's draft, is expected to be at the Jets' facility Monday but it's unclear if he will participate in practice _ which begins at 1:50 p.m. But when he does, the quarterback competition will get a whole lot more interesting.
The 21-year-old rookie will battle with Teddy Bridgewater and Josh McCown for the starting quarterback job.
Darnold confirmed the signing on the Jets' Twitter account.
This wasn't the ideal start to Darnold's career. But in the end, this was more of an annoyance than a big deal.
Darnold will likely be back on the field after missing four practices _ at the most _ and still has a legitimate chance to win the starting job. Neither McCown nor Bridgewater has looked overly impressive in the first two practices and the Jets still have eight more practices before their preseason opener next week.
Roquan Smith, the Bears No. 8 pick, is the now the only rookie who hasn't signed a contract.
It's unclear exactly what the holdup was in Darnold's contract, but it wasn't the salary. There's a rookie pay scale, so as the No. 3 pick Darnold is locked into making $30.2 million guaranteed over his four-year rookie deal, including a $20.1 million signing bonus.
The dispute was almost certainly over contract language, likely regarding provisions that would protect the Jets if they released Darnold before the end of his rookie contract.
But, of course the Jets and Darnold hopes he plays much longer than that in green and white. The last time they drafted a quarterback this high, it was Joe Namath first overall in the 1965 AFL draft.
Now, under contract, Darnold can finally start the work of forging his own Jets legacy.
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