Peyton Manning's future is up in the air with the Colts. There is no guarantee that he will ever play again as he has reportedly had four surgeries on his neck in the past year. However, that won't stop teams from scrambling to add the soon-to-be thirty-six year-old future Hall of Famer. One of those teams that might show interest is the New York Jets. Jets players have come out publicly in support of the team getting Peyton but does this move make sense for the Jets?
It isn't every day that you see a franchise quarterback hit the open market. It just doesn't happen. Now, there is no certainty right now that Peyton will hit the open market but it is unlikely the Colts will roll the dice on a $28 million question mark if Peyton doesn't look like he can play football. If he can play, it makes no sense for the Colts to cut their quarterback, regardless of the squabbles Peyton and owner Jim Irsay have had. But, since this is a speculative piece designed around Peyton ending up on the Jets I will leave the Colts out of this. Let's just assume the Colts let Peyton go and the Jets are interested.
The Jets locker room this year was closer to a circus than it was a football team coming off of back-to-back AFC Championship game appearances. There is, or was, a good football team in there somewhere. Did it just break apart overnight? I don't think so. However, that isn't to say there aren't big holes on the Jets that need to be filled. One of those holes is not at the quarterback position.
Mark Sanchez has been frustrating, especially to Jets fans. They expected a franchise quarterback to begin to emerge this season. After all, he did help lead the team to back-to-back AFC Championship game appearances. Bad quarterbacks really can't do that. The problem with the Jets is their personnel decisions. They reach for aging veterans to plug into the holes created by years worth of poor drafting. Going into this season, the Jets had Santonio Holmes flanked by Plaxico Burress, who hadn't played football since 2008 when his career was interrupted by a nightclub, sweatpants, and a handgun. He went to jail and yet here he was, expected to be the team's number two wide receiver for all intents and purposes. Derrick Mason was brought in to be the slot/possession guy but Mason was thirty-seven years old. Mason was so ineffective that he was traded on October 11th after openly complaining. Mark Sanchez has not been given the tools to succeed.
Bringing in a quarterback who is nearing the end of his career is not the answer. Sure, Peyton is a great quarterback, a first ballot Hall of Famer but giving up on a supposed franchise quarterback after three years of starting reeks of stupidity. If the Jets go out and get Peyton they might have one or two years of good football. We've seen Peyton, when healthy, elevate a mediocre football team. However, what happens in two years when Peyton is now thirty-eight? Do they use another draft pick on a quarterback and have Peyton tutor him? What if the Jets sign Peyton and cut or trade Sanchez and Peyton get hurt in the fourth game of the season? Do they implode the whole football team and hope to start over? They would basically have to. They would be in the Colts position right now.
If I were Mike Tannenbaum, I would keep Sanchez and clean the locker room up. Trade malcontents, even if it means trading Santonio Holmes. There are going to be enough good wide receivers coming into free agency that Holmes can be replaced. The Jets could also use some offensive linemen that can block the speed rushers that are now predominant on defensive lines everywhere. Wayne Hunter was terrible on the right side and finding a right tackle who is good, not great but just good enough, is a lot easier than finding a quarterback in the draft. Sanchez hasn't been terrible. Sure, he has been at times, but so have a lot of quarterbacks, even Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Tony Romo, and Philip Rivers to name a few. These are excellent quarterbacks. Instead of throwing their quarterback under the bus, the Jets should do what the Giants did for Eli, get rid of malcontents that hinder the quarterbacks growth. The Giants got rid of Jeremy Shockey, a pest by all accounts who pestered Eli in the huddle to throw him the football. Once Shockey got injured and was no longer in the huddle the Giants went on to win a Super Bowl and ever since Eli has gotten better and better with a few bumps in the road. If Santonio Holmes is degrading the man throwing him the football then Holmes has to go. Wide receivers can be found, franchise quarterbacks can't.
If the Jets management really believes that Mark Sanchez is not the answer then they had better draft a quarterback and develop him, especially if they are going after Peyton if he becomes available. This year's quarterback crop, at least in projected elite quarterbacks, is short. Still, a Brandon Weeden, an older quarterback a la Chris Weinke, will be available when the Jets pick in a middle round. If not, there should be someone who can at least compete for a spot. Is Greg McElroy the answer? Unknown but doubtful. Obtaining Peyton's services will surely mean a capable backup will be necessary, just in case. We all know the Jets are built to compete now. They are aging, and in some spots aging poorly. They don't have a legitimate pass rush and rely on schemes to get to the quarterback or defend against the pass. Opposing quarterbacks have all the time in the world to throw and that will lead to someone getting open. Sure, the Jets have Darrelle Revis but unless they clone him the chances are that one of the opposing team's wide receivers will get open against Antonio Cromartie or Kyle Wilson.
The Jets problems didn't stem from the quarterback position. Yes, Sanchez threw untimely interceptions and fumbled at inopportune moments. However, his ground game was putrid to start the year. Shonn Greene did eventually emerge as a 1,000 yard rusher but his inability early in the year to get major chunks of yardage compounded the Jets offensive woes, especially when two of the teams top three receivers were over thirty-four years-old and one hadn't played football in three years. Despite all of the Jets offensive problems, Sanchez improved on his completion percentage (56.7, up from 54.8 in 2010) and threw 26 touchdowns, up from 17 the year before. His yards gained per completion were the lowest they had been since he came into the NFL at 11.3, further testimony of the Jets older receiving corps.
Mark Sanchez has talent. Will he be what Peyton Manning was in his prime? Probably not, in fact I'd bet on it. Few quarterbacks can ever hope to be. Eli Manning isn't as good as his brother and yet has more Super Bowl rings than Peyton. Winning Super Bowls is not just a quarterback thing. Even Peyton in his prime would have a hard time winning a Super Bowl with the Jets and their current roster. There is no Dwight Freeney of Robert Mathis to get to the opposing team's QB. There is no Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne. Holmes has talent but he also has what appears to be an attitude problem. There are much bigger problems on the Jets than their quarterback. They need a pass rush. They need a right tackle. They need a younger, more capable back than LaDainian Tomlinson to share some duties with Shonn Greene. They have an emerging tight end in Dustin Keller. They have a left tackle in D'Brickashaw Ferguson. They have a center in Nick Mangold. They have the shut-down corner in Revis. Their linebacking corps is aging but very good. They need some safety help. They need young wide receivers that can stretch the field with their speed, something the Jets really didn't have. The Jets don't need a quarterback, especially a thirty-six year old one who is not a sure thing to stay healthy. If Mike Tannenbaum thinks this is the route the Jets should go down then perhaps Woody Johnson should go another route in the general manager department. Obtaining Peyton Manning might...might help the Jets for a year or two but he could also set them back five years, something I don't think Jets fans can tolerate.
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