The Jets’ Quarterback Quandry

It’s no secret by now. The Jets have a lot of problems, but none bigger than at the quarterback position. Although their debacle has become a season-long well-publicized circus, it reached a new height of severity this week, as league sources have revealed the team is looking to shop around not only the under-utilized Tim Tebow, but also Mark Sanchez.

Of course, the dramatics go all the way back to the offseason when the Jets acquired Tim Tebow with the intent to build a new dynamic offense. Obviously, that didn’t happen and Mark Sanchez continued to display his ineptitude, which somehow went unrecognized by the Jets, at least until now.

Sanchez’s struggles prompted Rex Ryan to finally make a change at the position, but instead of going with Tebow, he made the announcement this week that rookie Greg McElroy would become the starter for the rest of the season. McElroy has become the “guy” by default, but obviously many were still shocked that Tebow wouldn’t even get a shot. However, no one was more baffled and miffed than Tebow himself, and for good reason. The pretense under which he was brought in, as the backup to Sanchez, was quickly disregarded. Now, the team is appointing a guy whose biggest achievement was leading the team to a 7-6 comeback win…against the Cardinals.

So now, understandably, Tebow wants out and the team will likely oblige. He could be traded or released after the season and it will be a very mutual separation for sure. However, shopping Sanchez will be a much tougher sell. After four years in the league, Sanchez’s ability (if he ever had any) is disintegrating each and every time he steps out on the field. The Jets have finally woken up, but now it’s too late; not just concerning this season, but going forward. At this point, what team would want him? And what team would want to pay him the egregiously high amount the Jets signed him to before this season? Whichever team trades for Sanchez will have to pay him more than $8 million per year over the next two. More than $17 million for the guy who leads the league in turnovers with 24? Yeah, I’d pass too.

So now what do the Jets do? The bad decisions made by the front office and Ryan have compounded to a degree that’s unfathomable, and laughable to anyone not associated with the franchise, so it’s hard to say. Since the horrendous decisions by the Jets go all the way back to the beginning of the season, there’s not much they can do to salvage what they’ve broken.

And the damage is so severe at this point that the franchise will likely feel the effects for years to come. There’s no question that Tebow and Sanchez will not return next year, meaning the Jets will have to spend years to develop McElroy, spend years to develop a draft pick, or find the best free agent who needs money badly enough to sign with an organization that may very well be the most poorly run in the league.

The bottom line here is: Stay away bettors! The Jets are a plague you don’t want to get infected with, that is unless of course you are betting against them. There might not be a better time to buy-in to the whichever team is playing the Jets right now, as they have become of the worst teams in the AFC.