As much as I hate quarterback controversy, and the fact that the New York Jets haven’t had a stable quarterback since Chad Pennington, it only fuels the thoughts of finding an answer for the quarterback problem on the Jets.
The current quarterback depth chart is somewhat of an eye sore, especially if it doesn’t lay out in the correct order.
First we have Bryce Petty, who started for a couple games last year and showed some potential, yet was injured and is currently still nursing that injury. Let alone the fact that his prior experience is from a spread offense college, Baylor University, and was benched for a season and a half to “learn from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Next is Christian Hackenburg, who’s name should frighten any reporter within throwing distance. Hackenburg was given high expectations from GM Mike Maccaggan, and yet has not lived up to those expectations throughout practice, OTA, preseason, and even backyard football.
And finally, the poor mans Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown. McCown somehow always finds his way on a team, and is usually immediately known for contending for the starting position…right. Given his track record, sure he is a decent quarterback if anything goes wrong and you need a backup to hold the game over, but with how injury prone Josh McCown has been, it’s a major red flag for any starting position.
Which leads me to my point, the Jets are in rebuild mode, and all of Gang Green want an answer at quarterback to be able to hold their head up high. With that being said, the best answer is to trade for Teddy Bridgewater this year, or since the Minnesota Vikings did not pick up his 5th year option on his rookie contract, wait until next year to compete in a bidding war.
Now either way, the New York Jets can offer whatever the Vikings are looking for, or even out offer them next year in a bidding war. With all of the recent cuts and trades the Jets have opened a lot of cap space in the upcoming years and is reportedly expected to have $88 million in cap room next year.
The Jets also have a some extra draft picks that they would be able to use in collateral for a trade for Teddy Bridgewater. Think about it, the Vikings are not high on Bridgewater right now, since they did not pick up his 5th year option.
Especially coming off of an ACL knee injury, the stock for Teddy is falling fast, which is why the Jets should take advantage on a potential franchise quarterback. Which is what the Jets are looking for in the long run.
Teddy Bridgewater could be the answer to all the Gang Green issues in the future, and the Jets would be able to finally build around a quarterback through free agency and the draft to be able to finally sustain a good team going forward.