Jets sign veteran QB David Garrard

Garrard was in camp with Miami last season, but hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL since December 2010.
Credit: Getty Images

Mark Sanchez, you have competition. Sort of.

The Jets officially signed veteran David Garrard to a free agent contract on Monday afternoon, bringing in another quarterback following the well-documented struggles of Sanchez this past season. The 35-year-old Garrard is a native of East Orange, N.J. and was a fourth-round pick of the Jaguars in 2002 after a stellar career at East Carolina.

Garrard has been plagued by injuries the past two years, including a herniated disk, and hasn’t thrown a pass since 2010. Last season he was signed by the Dolphins in the offseason but was cut in preseason following a knee injury and subsequent surgery.

Arguably his best season came in 2007 when in just 12 games he threw for 2,500 yards and 18 touchdowns with just 3 interceptions. He followed that up two years later when he threw for 3,597 yards and was selected to the Pro Bowl.

It may be a longshot for Garrard to wrestle the starting job away from Sanchez, who has never faced true competition at the position and was handed the starting job four years ago as a rookie after a mediocre preseason.

Garrard posted a photo of him on Twitter signing his contract, just to make it official: