What exactly are the Jets trying to do here?

Aaron Glenn believes Geno Smith is going to bring the Jets to the promised land.

But does Gang Green even want to go there?

The motivation behind Glenn’s headline-grabbing comment Tuesday at the NFL owners meeting is easy to understand. The only way Glenn gets a third season as Jets coach (or even completes his second) is if he wins games this fall. Smith represents his best chance to win games. So of course Glenn is going to try to instill confidence in his new quarterback. But just because Glenn needs to win does not mean it is in the best interest of the Jets to win. And therein lies the issue.

Yes, obviously the Jets want to end their 15-year postseason drought. They’d sign for a wild card spot now and figure out the rest later. But any realistic path to 10 or so wins with Smith likely walked out the door with last season’s trade deadline sell-off. They are nowhere near being a playoff-caliber roster, even if Smith reclaims the form he had in Seattle.

But they could win a handful of games with Smith. And that would complicate the efforts to get a franchise quarterback in the 2027 draft. Sure, they have plenty of draft capital to trade up the board. But why burn those picks to get to the top of the heap when you can use them to build around the high pick you earned? You can make a strong argument general manager Dennis Mougey’s best long-term play is to shed himself of Glenn, land another top pick and build from there.

Words we never thought we would type: Smith may be too good to be the Jets’ quarterback. And he is probably still the wrong fit even if he is not. You are not building anything with Smith, who turns 36 in October. And if he struggles like he did in Las Vegas last season? The combination of his baggage and Glenn’s impending firing will make this Jets season far more toxic than it would have been with Carson Wentz or any other subpar veteran stopgap.