Geno Smith's introduction to the Jets locker room got complicated fast. Weeks after arriving in a trade that reunited him with old ties in New York, word broke that police in Davie, Florida were investigating him over a battery accusation stemming from a June 21 incident involving a woman identified as an ex-girlfriend. It hung over him through the start of camp season, the kind of story that follows a quarterback into every press conference whether he wants to talk about it or not.
Word broke Monday afternoon that South Florida police had cleared Smith of any criminal wrongdoing.
Adam Schefter put the exclamation point on it a little under an hour later, confirming directly with the Davie Florida Police Department that the case is no longer active and Smith will not be charged.
An investigation of Geno Smith for an incident in which a woman accused him of battery last month is no longer active, and the Jets quarterback will not be charged, per the Davie Florida Police Department. https://t.co/VQ3lWXZPAf
It's been a whirlwind year for Smith regardless of the legal drama. He was the Raiders' big swing after Seattle shipped him to Las Vegas last spring, landing a two-year extension worth up to $85.5 million with $66.5 million guaranteed just a month after the trade. The bet did not pay off — Smith took a league-worst 55 sacks behind a leaky offensive line and threw a league-high 17 interceptions as the Raiders stumbled to a 3-14 season. One year later, Las Vegas moved on, sending him to the Jets for a sixth-round pick after Smith agreed to restructure his deal, with the Raiders still eating most of the money.
That's the backdrop that made this investigation such an unwelcome subplot. A quarterback trying to steady himself on his third team in two years doesn't need a battery accusation trailing him into a new building, especially one where he's supposed to be the readymade bridge answer at the position. Every hit to his name off the field threatened to overshadow whatever he does on it.
Now that Davie PD has closed the book, the Jets get to actually talk about football again. Smith walks into this season without a legal cloud, for whatever that's worth to a fanbase that's seen more quarterback chaos than most franchises could stomach. The bigger question was never really about charges — it's whether he can be the guy who stabilizes a position that's swallowed Gang Green for a decade. That conversation starts now.