Pro Football Focus will be providing analysis for every major NFL signing and trade during the 2015 free-agency period, accounting primarily for the quality of the player and his fit with his new team, and focusing less on the financial terms of the deal.
Here is a grade for the trade between the Houston Texans and New York Jets for Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Link to grade articles on every major deal
New York Jets: A-minus
Such is the state of quarterback play in the NFL that the market for proven inadequate passers is booming. Sub-standard backups are cashing significant guaranteed money in their deals, and now the Jets have traded for Fitzpatrick, who will be joining his sixth NFL team.
To be fair to Fitzpatrick, he actually played quite well in Houston in 2014 before injury derailed his season, and again once he returned later in the season. He ended the year with a plus-8.8 PFF grade, good enough to rank 12th league wide. That might seem high, but his passer rating was 95.3 for the season and he threw 17 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions, completing 63.1 percent of his passes at 8.0 yards per attempt. Those are all very good numbers that back up the notion that whatever we think of his career to date, he played pretty good football last season.
The Jets can't have any confidence in Geno Smith after his first two seasons, and Fitzpatrick represents a veteran presence who can be relied upon to start games and succeed if he is surrounded with enough help.
Houston Texans: C
This side of the trade is far less interesting. The Texans were clearly going to get rid of Fitzpatrick, with head coach Bill O'Brien preferring to stockpile former Patriots backups with whom he is familiar.
Brian Hoyer's signing made Fitzpatrick a guy they were going to cut loose, and getting anything back for him, even a conditional late-round pick, is better than nothing.