A Get Up section by former NFL basic supervisor Mike Tannenbaum simply created a hypothetical NFL locker room so chaotic it hurts to consider.
The ESPN morning present crew was debating potential touchdown spots for Russell Wilson within the occasion he will get minimize by the Denver Broncos. The 12-year veteran would cost Denver $85 million in lifeless cap with a $49.6 million cap hit if launched earlier than June 1.
“I think [Russell Wilson] would actually be a great fit with the New York Jets,” the previous Gang Inexperienced GM stated. “Absolutely. Pay him $1 million and let him resurrect his career.”
Tannebaum’s feedback had been met with groans and guffaws by the remainder of the desk.
“I actually have experience with this,” Tannenbaum continued. “Vinny Testaverde got cut by the Baltimore Ravens. We signed him in June and went to the championship game that year.”
To make clear Tannenbaum’s anecdote, signing Testaverde did save the Jets’ season, however solely as a result of they’d no actual quarterback to start with. Neil O’Donnell misplaced his job to Glenn Foley, and first-year head coach Invoice Parcells determined to chop O’Donnell. As “winner” of the beginning gig, Foley solely received certainly one of his two outings in 1997, then misplaced the primary two outings of the 1998 season. Testaverde obtained handed up in Baltimore for Jim Harbaugh, solely to work with prime Keyshawn Johnson and get lifted by a Parcells-Invoice Belichick protection that completed fourth within the league in DVOA that 12 months. With out the last-minute Testaverde pickup, this could have seemed like practically each Jets group of the twenty first century – nice protection, strong ability place gamers, and no quarterbacks.
“Where else is he going to go?” “He has to resurrect his career. If you have to sit for a year, why not sit behind one of the greatest of all time and be a free agent again?”
Not one of the co-hosts took kindly to Tannenbaum’s hypothetical.
“I can give you 50 reasons…” one of many co-hosts muttered out of body.
“Florham Park would be like The Real Husbands of Hollywood if you have Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson…” one other added.
“Mike T ‘bout to make me go downstairs in my bar and take a shot of tequila,” Harry Douglas responded.
Look at Dan Graziano’s eyes. It’s a glance of nothing however pure contempt for Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum is correct insomuch that if Wilson does get minimize by Denver, he possible received’t have the ability to stroll right into a beginning job. There are so few openings within the league one month out from free company. Washington, New England, Atlanta, Minnesota, Chicago, and Pittsburgh appear like probably the most distinguished. No less than half of these will probably be crammed by the draft. Minnesota possible wouldn’t need one other veteran retread. Atlanta and Pittsburgh may go both course.
Are you aware what none of these groups presently have? Over $100 million already tied up within the quarterback place. That’s not even mentioning that every one that cash is tied up in probably the most cantankerous signal-callers presently within the league. Aaron Rodgers is formally on the books by subsequent 12 months, then the Jets eat a $63 million cap hit in 2026. Wilson would even be reunited with former Broncos head coach and present Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett and Wilson had been so unhealthy collectively that Hackett turned just the fifth NFL coach since 1970 to get fired earlier than the top of their first season.
Prefer it or not, Rodgers is the man till he retires. If rostering a 41-year-old quarterback off the heels of an Achilles damage is just too hectic, the 2023 season proved simply how efficient backup quarterbacks will be in a pinch. Joe Flacco, Joshua Dobbs, Gardner Minshew, Tyrod Taylor, Tommy DeVito, Andy Dalton, and Jake Browning all picked up wins in a pinch. The 12 months prior, Jacoby Brissett and Tyler Huntley crammed in effectively – in Brissett’s case, better than the starter.
Bringing in somebody with simply as huge a character as Rodgers just isn’t the best way to construct a sound roster. Douglas took that somewhat too near coronary heart when he refused to usher in a single backup possibility on the commerce deadline final season. The Jets have hopefully realized the lesson that they want any individual within the fold. Nonetheless, this can be a group determined for normalcy. Garrett Wilson called 2023 the “worst year of [his] life.” An nameless Jets coach called the Jets’ stretch of ineptitude “such a f*cking mess” in a report by The Athletic. Bringing Wilson into that state of affairs isn’t only a redundancy, it’s one which places a group already at wit’s finish previous its breaking level.
