Jets to Trade All Current Players for Entire First-Round Draft

FLORHAM PARK- Desiring to “start fresh” in 2013, the Jets organization announced yesterday that it will be trading all contracted players in exchange for all 31 other first-round draft picks.

New York General Manager John Idzik stated his plans at a scheduled press conference. Idzik, the former Vice President of Football Administration for the Seattle Seahawks, was hired by the Jets on January 18 to replace Mike Tannenbaum. Idzik, calling his predecessor an “absolute moron,” said he came to the decision after much thought with his new colleagues.

The team started to examine their options almost immediately after his hiring. It was clear from the beginning, according to Idzik, that minor changes would just not cut it. “We slowly started to realize that we could save a lot of time and money by just gutting the whole organization and starting totally fresh next year.”

The comprehensive plan is the largest trade the NFL has ever seen. The first phase will see the Jets’ 38 “bad” players be traded wherever they can be for the bottom 11 picks. Some of these will be easy to get rid of. For instance, Idzik already has sent Shonn Greene to the Tennessee Titans “because 2 yards-per-carry is still a heck of a lot better than no yards-per-carry.” Last year’s draft bust, Stephen Hill, will be sent to the New England Patriots to give Tom Brady target practice. According to an anonymous source, Brady needs someone who can run the routes in practice and doesn’t mind getting hit with the football really hard. “That’s a perfect match for Stephen. He’s a wide receiver who can’t catch a ball.”

Idzik admitted that some trades will be more difficult. He envisions Jeff Cumberland, for example, being traded under the radar with a package of other players. “Others may not be accepted by teams voluntarily. I’ll probably have to kidnap Mark Sanchez and leave him in the Buffalo Bills front office. But we’re still working out the kinks,” he said.

The second phase involves trading the Jets’ 15 remaining good players in exchange for the top 20 first-round picks. At one point, a reporter questioned why Idzik will trade away the few veteran players who have made positive contributions to the Jets, such as Darrelle Revis and Nick Mangold. Again, he pointed to management’s goal to start fresh and find younger talent “whose spirits have not been tainted by the horrors that were the 2011 and 2012 seasons.”

Jets owner Woody Johnson and head coach Rex Ryan, who also attended the press conference, said that they agree with Idzik. Ryan went a step further, revealing a conversation he had with him: “I told John that he might want to consider firing me as well. It’s time to give a younger, much more enthusiastic college coach this job.”

December 30 at Bills (9-28)

After a painful season, the Jets were finally able to pull the plug yesterday, letting the dust settle at 6-10. For the first time in the past seven meetings, they lost to the Bills. The caliber of play was on par with what had happened the rest of the season; no fireworks here.

The offense refused even for the season finale to come out from its invisibility cloak, registering yet another game this season without a touchdown. Once again, the team failed to capitalize during trips to the red zone, just managing three field goals. And even those we had trouble with: one was blocked again. But when drives did not end in field goal attempts, Sanchez made sure he did whatever he could to stop them on his own. In case we forgot why he was benched last week, Sanchez reminded us by throwing a pick-six and fumbling, throwing two more turnovers onto the pile of them he has stacked up all season.

Overall, it was another terrible game but unfortunately was not very surprising. In fact, it followed the same exact pattern of bad play this team has come up with all season. It has been embarrassing for fans, who now have a 6-10 team to complain about. At least it was a meaningless game. With this latest loss, we will get a better spot in the draft which will hopefully help us next year. But expect a lot of personnel changes to happen this offseason.

They already started today with GM Mike Tannenbaum being let go. But it needs to continue. Next needs to be Tony Sparano, the non-offense offensive coordinator. After that we should trade away Mark Sanchez, let Tim Tebow finally escape, and get a new starting quarterback. My recommendation would be to get Alex Smith, who was only demoted for getting a concussion.

Now that the season is over, I won't have any games to write about for a long time. However, I've decided to start up a new "Timeout" segment, the first post of which was put up last week. Here I will keep offering my own analysis on any major offseason news concerning the Jets, such as personnel changes, the NFL Draft, and training camp. Keep coming back for new posts.

Timeout: MetLife Stadium

I actually went to today's game, so I thought I would give a quick review of the stadium experience.

It's essentially brand-new, having opened in 2010. It definitely had that new stadium feel to it too, reminding me a lot of Citi Field in Queens (home of the MLB New York Mets). There are three floors with access to the three large vertical seating sections. Inside, behind the seats, is a pavilion that wraps all the way around with snacks and memorabilia stores. Jets Jerseys, even the Sanchez ones, go for over $100. (Oh right, they were 50% off today, I wonder why.) And beer went for $10. Then again, when you go to an NFL stadium, you expect to empty your wallet to get anything. But $35 to park at a place I already paid admission for? That's not right.

It was a comfortable stadium though, and a good viewing experience. My row was at the top, all the way in the back, yet I had no problem seeing the ball and all of the players with their numbers. Also, all the other stadiums I've ever been to have an annoying echo every time someone says something on the loudspeaker. So I was pleasantly surprised that everything they said was crystal clear here.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at MetLife Stadium, Jets loss aside. The people were nice, and parking and traffic weren't so bad either, I might add. I wasn't happy with the money I ended up spending, but then again it's not something I get to do often. I had a good time there, so I would recommend experiencing it for yourself.

December 23 vs. Chargers (17-27)

Today was another depressing loss for the Jets, who now continue their downward slide to 6-9. This means that for the first time (and possibly last time) in the Rex Ryan era, the Jets will have a losing season. There's not much to say here, because the caliber of play was mostly just a continuation from the rest of the season.

The first quarter, interestingly enough, was the most exciting one of the game. The Chargers opened with a touchdown. Shonn Greene rushed for one of our own immediately after. The Chargers were first to punt on their next drive. Our next drive however, ended in another Greene touchdown. The Chargers eventually got a field goal in the second quarter to make it 14-10.

Then the intensity of the game disappeared as both teams lost momentum and were fighting for an edge. It stayed that way for the Jets for the rest of the game, only managing a field goal in the second half. A lot of this could probably be blamed on the lack of a running game for the Jets. Although Greene had two short touchdown runs, him and Powell were never really able to get much going. The Chargers, however, found a spark (excuse the bad pun). Rivers put together two touchdowns and a field goal to bring up their score to 27. We were losing by 10 with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter, but that's the way it stayed.

Greg McElroy wasn't exactly able to save the day either. He had an interception, thrown late into double coverage, and was sacked, losing the ball in the process. Going into this game, when McElroy was put in instead of Sanchez, I thought, "Well, he can't be any worse." Which is true, but unfortunately he wasn't much better either. But it was his first NFL start, and his mistakes seemed to come from timidness. There was a lot of late throws and a lot of waiting too long for receivers to get open. He put in a good effort though, by running for a few first downs and having a few good passes. I'd give him another shot next week.

December 17 at Titans (10-14)

There you have it folks, the 2012 Jets season is over. No playoffs, just two more games and we finally get to pull the plug. We needed to win the last five games in order to even have a chance of getting in. But I guess once the Jets realized they needed help, they decided to control their own destiny by losing. I held out hope as long as I could, but honestly, I'm not surprised. The caliber of play this year meant winning the last five games in a row, no matter how bad the opponents, was highly unlikely. And sure enough, we lost the third one, eliminating us from playoff contention.

There was a stark difference between the two sides of the ball, so let me get my compliments out of the way first. The defense, particularly over the past month, has really developed into a strong unit. The only reason we've stayed in games lately was because of them making stops when they needed to, which was every drive. They had two bad plays that lead to two Titan touchdowns, but I have no complaints for this group. Cromartie has really stepped up; I can't wait until Revis comes back so we can have an incredible secondary. Landry has proved he should be here to stay, racking up huge plays and interceptions throughout the year. I could go on, but really everyone on defense has advanced and contributed to the strength of the group. 

But you cannot expect a defense to be perfect for every drive. Eventually, the offense needs to score points more often than the other team is allowed to. That's how you win games.

It's autopsy time for the Jets offense: This is a team that struggled to get anything going on almost every drive this season. It was pretty hard to watch to be honest. The two-quarterback system never worked, it actually backfired. Half of Tebow's plays were preempted by a timeout because no one could ever figure out who needed to be on the field. The Tebow package was supposed to confuse the other team. Instead, it only confused our own.

Also, it pains me to say this, but it's time for Mark Sanchez to go. He has lost all of his confidence. This was his fourth year, when he was supposed to ascend to the level of great or elite. Instead, he peeked, or maybe even got worse. I've been a vocal supporter through two years of bad play but now I'm starting to regret it. I tried to blame the people around him. He's had a rotating cast of receivers this year, which would make it difficult for anybody. But a great quarterback is supposed to elevate the people around him. Look at Peyton Manning. When he went to the Broncos, everyone wondered who exactly he was going to throw the ball to. But he used his leadership and technique to help the wide receivers already there to get on his level. Sanchez has never been able to do that.

He is also still making rookie mistakes that can only be blamed on himself. I can't possibly sit here and tell you that all four of those interceptions can be blamed on somebody else. One or two maybe, but not all of them. Especially not this one. Sanchez essentially submitted his resignation as starting QB with that play. You're trailing by four, so you need a touchdown to win. It's first down, with two minutes left in the game, and you're on your opponent's 20 yard line. If I were in that situation playing Madden, even I would know enough to run the football. Instead, he threw the ball into triple coverage on the goal line. Clearly Sanchez is not progressing.

Here's what I think needs to happen now. Sanchez is guaranteed $8 million next year whether he plays or not, so we know who our backup quarterback will be in 2013. Next, we still have two games left. Let Tebow start one and McElroy the other. Whoever does well can be our starter next year. If they both stink, go get Alex Smith.

Finally, GM Mike Tannenbaum needs to be fired immediately. He made a whole host of mistakes apparently, but only one is necessary for him to go: Sanchez's contract extension. We'll be paying over $8 million for a backup quarterback, and that is simply unacceptable. Also fire Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano (as I've mentioned before) because he's clearly useless. 

And then we'll go from there. This is usually the point when I offer some optimism, so...maybe next year? Don't worry, even though the next two games don't mean anything, I'll write about them anyway. See you next week.

December 9 at Jaguars (17-10)

"Running the ball is like trying to chop down a tree. You keep taking swings at it and eventually the whole thing, all of a sudden, comes falling down." -Nick Mangold and Jets center. And indeed it did today in Jacksonville, where the Jets narrowly and dramatically took down the Jaguars thanks to an offense that wan't afraid to run the football.

It didn't start out that way. The first half dragged in much the same way the last game did, with a score of 0-3 at halftime. What certainly didn't help is Sanchez committing his almost weekly strip-sack to turn over the ball. My confidence with him has slipped a bit in the past couple of weeks, by the way. (Please, please prove me wrong, Sanchez.) But he did have the start today under questionable Rex Ryan decision-making, and I commend Sanchez for holding it together and keeping the game going.

I have a conspiracy theory that Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell downed a few cans of Red Bull during halftime, because they came out ready to work. Our offense switched almost completely to the ground, with Sanchez handing it off a majority of the snaps and leading us to our two touchdowns, one by Greene and one by Powell. Sanchez stepped up and made a few critical third-down completions when he needed to. And finally, to put it Mangold's way, timber! That tree came falling down.

Part of this win again came down to the defense making plays and keeping it close. Their two interceptions were critical. The second one, in fact, was the game-winner. It comfortably ended Jacksonville's attempt to tie the game with 15 seconds left, after two scary fourth-down conversions kept the drive alive. Even better, Cromartie, who was feared to have a concussion, came back in just fine.

If we keep working as a team, we'll keep doing well. 6-7 keeps us in the hunt, but there's no nap time allowed. Let's keep playing well and I'll keep staying positive.

December 2 vs. Cardinals (7-6)




Bad Luck Tebow

Poor Tim Tebow. Sitting on the bench all season, obviously hoping (but never admitting) for a chance to finally start, watching the team struggle game after game. After game. And then something happened that changed everything. Something I had resigned myself to believe would just never happen this season. Mark Sanchez got benched.
So here comes his replacement, none other than...third-string Greg McElroy? Yes indeed, because Tebow was inactive with a lingering rib injury. Instead, McElroy suited up, excited and ready to roll.

Rex Ryan's decision is not one I took with ease, I should clarify. Ultimately, I want the Jets to win above all else. However, remember that the 2009 and 2010 seasons are what made me a fan of the team in the first place. I have never rooted for any quarterback besides Sanchez. This is the same guy I stood with during our back-to-back runs to championship games not too long ago. So I've tried to stand by him as long as possible in these bad times. I've made plenty of excuses in the past to defend him, and I don't take them back now.

But I've also said time and time again this year that the status quo for this team is not working. We're a loss away from this whole season getting thrown in the trash. So will Sanchez ever rise to the level of elite? I don't know and perhaps now we'll never know. Changing the person at quarterback, the leader of the team, results in a change in chemistry and enthusiasm. And at this point, in the situation we're in now, any change really can't hurt. It certainly didn't yesterday.

The game had been in a dreadfully boring stalement all the way into the third quarter. Sanchez threw three interceptions in the first quarter alone, and almost had a couple more. Nick Folk missed a field goal for the first and second time this season (they were 50 yards each, so it was understandable) and both defenses played perfectly. With six minutes left in the third, the score was 0-3. After yet another three-and-out, McElroy was seen putting on his helmet and taking practice throws on the sideline. Then the whole dynamic of the game changed. The crowd cheered for the first time. And the offense played with new enthusiasm. Most importantly, on his first drive of his NFL debut, McElroy threw his first career touchdown.

The game was a much needed win for the now 5-7 Jets. But will he start next week? It couldn't hurt. He mostly just handed off the ball to Bilal Powell and Shonn Greene, but he had a few good completions, especially when they really mattered. Welcome to the first ever three-way quarterback controversy, served up fresh by the New York Jets. Who will win? We'll just have to wait and see.