With a victory over the Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets are likely out of the race for one of the top young quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft, and that’s a good thing.
Let’s do a comparison to what the New York Jets are going through to the Indianapolis Colts in 1997. The Colts finished that season 3-13, and they had the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. With that pick team president and general manager Bill Polian went with Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning.
Manning’s rookie season was a rocky one. He wasn’t getting multiple calls in the huddle and doing the pre-snap read to pick the right play, nor was he calling “OMAHA” at the line of scrimmage. He actually had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of less than 1-1. The Colts finished the 1998 season with the same record they had the year before, 3-13. However, from 1999 on, save for 2001, the Colts didn’t have fewer than 10 wins in a season with Manning behind center.
Fast forward to 2017, and based on the way the offseason went, many people started using the evil “T” word for what the Jets were doing. Now, they are 3-2 and looking like they could win a few more games in 2017, and that’s actually a good thing.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, offseason practice time is limited, especially for rookies. So, bringing in a rookie quarterback who’s going to take some time to get acclimated into the NFL is actually not a prudent thing to do.
If they start to win games with this young group, they can show potential free agents that they can win. The free agents may want to come to New Yok, and the Jets won’t have to settle for a young quarterback’s growing pains. Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins will likely be a free agent. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will be a free agent, and could be an option if his knee holds up. .
If Bridgewater can come completely back from the serious knee injury he had, both players are better options than a young quarterback, because they can help the Jets develop a winning culture, rather than keep losing for a year or two and maybe win down the road.
According to Spotrac, prior to the carryover, the Jets will have about $55.6 million in cap space in 2018. It’s better for them to take a second-tier quarterback who has proven that he can play in this league rather than take a crapshoot on a guy potentially becoming a top-tier quarterback.
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The draft is all about potential. You can hope for that risk, or the Jets can take the proven commodity. The proven commodity off of a decent season sounds a lot better than taking a chance on a guy who may or may not be a top-level guy.
The Jets won twice on Sunday. They beat the Browns, and they probably won’t get to draft one of the top young quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft.
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