The NFL stands for Not For Long, just like the New York Jets stand for New York, Just End The Season. With Cade Klubnik now a part of this struggling AFC franchise, he is beginning to realize that this isn't Clemson anymore.
With Jets head coach Aaron Glenn on the hottest seat in the league coming in, he can't afford to placate his fourth-round pick. Glenn will try his luck with a former Jets cast-off in one Geno Smith. While Klubnik could be worth investing time and resources into, one New York radio host doesn't see it that way. ESPN's Jake Asman would rather see the Jets trade for Andy Dalton than see Klubnik play.
Asman is right to be dubious of how Klubnik fits into any of the Jets' plans... short, medium, or long.
"I like Cade Klubnik; why not give him a chance, but I think at some point, if you're the Jets, if you're Aaron Glenn trying to save your job, wouldn't you want Andy Dalton as the backup?" Asman said. "It'll cost you a seventh-round pick to get him from the [Philadelphia] Eagles."
New York is very much in win-now mode. No one outside of Florham Park cares that the Jets are a struggling franchise. They haven't made the AFC playoffs since 2010. While Asman's affinity for Andy Dalton as the Jets' backup is odd to say the least, he is a professional who knows how to win games.
.@JakeAsman warned the #Jets on @880ESPNNewYork about having rookie Cade Klubnik serve as the QB2 in 2026:
— The Jake Asman Show (@JakeAsmanShow) August 9, 2026
"I like Cade Klubnik, why not give him a chance, but I think at some point, if you're the Jets, if you're Aaron Glenn trying to save your job, wouldn't you want Andy Dalton… pic.twitter.com/zvMj4hzy16
Cade Klubnik is not the long-term solution at quarterback for the Jets
For Asman to pound the table in favor of a Dalton pushing 40 over a fresh-faced Klubnik tells you everything you need to know about the former Clemson quarterback.
Potential is a terrible thing to waste, but Klubnik surely wasted it during his time at Clemson. There were mitigating reasons for this, but he never demonstrated he had it in himself to separate and elevate his teammates while in college. He was playing in a down ACC, too. Klubnik is now a part of a bottom-tier NFL franchise.
While it served the Jets to take a flier on a quarterback last spring, all signs point to them drafting another one next year. They are surely taking one in the first round, and almost certainly in the top five. Arch Manning may not be allowed to play there, so come on down, Dante Moore, or whoever it is!
As painful as it sounds, the Jets starting Klubnik at any point this season would be akin to the final John Fox Carolina Panthers team feeding rookie Jimmy Clausen out of Notre Dame to the wolves. Clausen had an ego too, but he never stood a chance during that fateful 2010 NFL campaign. At least Carolina was able to draft Cam Newton No. 1 overall out of Auburn the following spring.
The NFL has a funny way of humbling those who need it the most.
Cade Klubnik went to the worst NFL organization imaginable for him
Let's be honest with ourselves. Klubnik had no choice in the matter. Who was he to turn down the so-called opportunity of a lifetime when the Jets wanted to make him a fourth-round pick? While he went to an organization where starts could be had, no team has missed the playoffs more regularly than these flightless Jets.
Instead of playing for a head coach who falls asleep in press boxes as Glenn has done before, Klubnik needed to go to a winning organization, preferably one where he could sit behind a proven veteran starter and learn how to be a professional. While he can definitely learn from Smith, the Jets were a house of horrors for him coming out of West Virginia. It is stunning that Smith even came back.
As it is with everything in the wonderful world of professional sports, where you land matters. Half the league went undrafted. Klubnik is now competing against full-grown men with families to feed and mortgages to pay. Football may be a kid's game, but this is serious business. Nothing he did during his final year at Clemson should give him any leeway during his rookie season. He has to earn it, too.
Unless he gets traded to a well-run organization like the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs, Klubnik will have to make do with the lot in life the NFL gave him. Welcome to the bottom of the barrel, bud!
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