Ex-Jets exec thinks Russell Wilson should be Rodgers’ back up

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 lower by the Denver Broncos. The 12-year veteran would cost Denver $85 million in useless cap with a $49.6 million cap hit if launched earlier than June 1.

“I believe [Russell Wilson] would truly be an incredible match with the New York Jets,” the previous Gang Inexperienced GM mentioned. “Completely. Pay him $1 million and let him resurrect his profession.”

Tannebaum’s feedback had been met with groans and guffaws by the remainder of the desk.

“I even have expertise with this,” Tannenbaum continued. “Vinny Testaverde bought lower by the Baltimore Ravens. We signed him in June and went to the championship sport that 12 months.”

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 gained one among his two outings in 1997, then misplaced the primary two outings of the 1998 season. Testaverde bought 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 workforce of the twenty first century – nice protection, strong talent place gamers, and no quarterbacks.

“The place else is he going to go?” “He has to resurrect his profession. If it’s a must to sit for a 12 months, why not sit behind one of many biggest of all time and be a free agent once more?”

Not one of the co-hosts took kindly to Tannenbaum’s hypothetical.

“I can provide you 50 causes…” one of many co-hosts muttered out of body.

“Florham Park can be like The Actual Husbands of Hollywood when you’ve got 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.

Have a 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 lower by Denver, he probably gained’t be capable 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. Not less than half of these will likely be stuffed by means of the draft. Minnesota probably wouldn’t need one other veteran retread. Atlanta and Pittsburgh may go both route.

Have you learnt 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 some of the cantankerous signal-callers presently within the league. Aaron Rodgers is formally on the books by means of 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 tip 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 simply too disturbing, 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 stuffed in effectively – in Brissett’s case, better than the starter.

Bringing in somebody with simply as large a character as Rodgers shouldn’t be the way in which to construct a sound roster. Douglas took that a bit too near coronary heart when he refused to usher in a single backup choice on the commerce deadline final season. The Jets have hopefully discovered the lesson that they want someone within the fold. Nonetheless, this can be a workforce determined for normalcy. Garrett Wilson called 2023 the “worst 12 months 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 workforce already at wit’s finish previous its breaking level.