Imagine this dream scenario for your favorite NFL team: The most competitively decorated athlete in college football history is drafted to a non-rival, small market team. The athlete helps to rake in millions of dollars in revenue for the franchise, including having the most popular selling jersey worldwide.

He goes on to become a pop culture spectacle and by most accounts a national phenomenon after achieving varied success, highlighted by repeated late game heroics and inconceivable wins. After being supplanted by a once-in-a-lifetime free agent quarterback, the aforementioned athlete is traded to your very own hometown team for a throwaway draft pick to play backup quarterback and lead your team to football’s promised land. If it all seems too good to be true, that’s because it is.

I’m talking, of course, about NFL superstar Tim Tebow and his jettison from Denver, into the laps of the all too willing New York Jets. Call me a cynical Jets fan (a decade of inept offensive coordinators, failed quarterbacks, and AFC championship game losses has probably put me over the edge) but I’m still confounded as to why Tim Tebow is on my team. Sure, he’s an unbelievably, likable, hard worker and a beast in the weight room. So is Nick Mangold’s sister, but that doesn’t mean I want her coming off the bench to run a quarterback draw for a dozen snaps a game.

My main problem with Tebow in New York isn’t due to his ineffectiveness at quarterback; it’s the complete lack of logic the Jets’ front office displayed in handling the situation that makes the franchise look like a circus sideshow. First, futile flirtations with Peyton Manning questionably necessitated the contract extension of already shaky quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Whether this was in the cards for months or an attempt to assuage Sanchez’ defeated ego wouldn’t matter because weeks later, Tim Tebow would don the green and white. This trade would instigate a positional (and media) battle between the country’s most popular athlete and the unreliable quarterback of the future for the Jets organization.

In a perfect world, the competition that Tim Tebow brings to the quarterback position would light a fire under Mark Sanchez and propel him to a career-defining year. If Sanchez had the intestinal fortitude of crosstown rival Eli Manning, or even the gutty gamesmanship that coach Rex Ryan continues to emptily preach, maybe it would be a different story. Unfortunately for this Jets fan, it seems all the more likely that Sanchez will crumble under the pressure and cede an increasing number of snaps Tebow’s way, as the season falls apart.

As a rule of thumb I try to always reserve judgment on newly acquired talent, but the stats are hard to ignore. I don’t see how a quarterback with a 47.3% completion percentage and almost as many turnovers as touchdown passes could possibly help in the backup quarterback capacity. Judging by initial reports out of the Jets camp, Sanchez and Tebow are struggling mightily with their passing accuracy, a downfall that has plagued both quarterbacks in their short tenures in the NFL. Sanchez and Tebow are performing so poorly, that Jets fans may be clamoring for third stringer Greg McElroy by camp’s end.

New York Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum and Head Coach Rex Ryan continue to propagate the idea that Tebow was brought to New York to be an athlete, rather than an exclusive quarterback. Preliminary reports even had his number of snaps estimated between ten and twenty a game. Wildcat packages with two quarterbacks on the field at once had naïve Jets fans salivating at the creative possibilities under new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano.

How would defenses account for two passers and infinite rushing possibilities? Pretty easily actually. Tebow’s speed has never been a weapon in his rush-heavy arsenal. Defensively command the edges of the box- something the Jets couldn’t do when they lost to Tebow in Denver last season- and he’s forced to run into a questionable Jets offensive line.

Cover the short passing attack, and Tebow is forced into deep-outs and fades, undeniably the weakest part of his game. NFL defenses will be praying  (no pun intended to the Tebow-ing masses) for Sanchez and Tebow, two mediocre quarterbacks, to appear on the field at the same time.

Part of the phenomenon that is Tebow-mania, is that I actually feel bad to doubt his potential as a New York Jet. I respect how real he is with his fans, and I truly feel that the interviews he gives showcase his endearing and likeable personality. But smiles and charm don’t help shed the little brother complex the Jets and their fans face in their own city.

The acquisition of Tim Tebow has done nothing but create a mockery out of the Jets camp. A franchise in desperate need of a spark seems to have lit the wrong end of the dynamite. Now the world is waiting to see if it will blow up in our faces.

Image Courtesy of   Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com

The article Tim Tebow on the Jets? Fuhgeddaboudit! appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The New York Jets will not pursue former Colts great Peyton Manning, as the team gave its starting quarterback of the last three years, Mark Sanchez, a three year contract extension on Friday night. Sanchez’s contract will be worth $58.25 million, making him the seventh-highest paid quarterback in all of the NFL. He is guaranteed $20.5 million combined through 2012 and 2013.

“The best part about it is, they chose to stick with me,” said Sanchez. “I’m going to be their starting quarterback for the next few years and that’s exciting.

“I’m the leader of this team and I’m excited to get back.”

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum stated that the decision to extend Sanchez was made after the season ended, despite leaving the door open recently on a possible change at the position when asked about any potential interest in bringing in Manning. Sanchez previously had two years remaining on his rookie contract, but they did not include any guaranteed money.

New York completed a three game losing streak in Miami in Week 17 to end the season at 8-8, preventing them from making their third consecutive playoff appearance with Sanchez under center. The ensuing result during the offseason was heavy criticism of the 25-year-old, which came in the form of negative remarks from several unnamed teammates concerning his talent level and mental makeup.

Sanchez led the Jets into back-to-back AFC title games in his first two seasons and losses in these were his only two in six career playoff games. All four of his post-season wins were impressive for a young quarterback, considering that they all came on the road in hostile environments against elite quarterbacks – Carson Palmer in Cincinnati, Philip Rivers in San Diego, Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, and clearly the most extraordinary victory, Tom Brady in Foxboro.

Sanchez showed flashes of brilliance in 2011 with a career high 26 touchdown passes, but a career high with an equal amount of turnovers left him looking like a split personality quarterback at times.

Jets fans moaned for years that former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s quick passing, mainly horizontal air attack was the central factor that prohibited Sanchez from ever reaching his full potential as a quarterback. It did not allow Sanchez to take very many shots down the field, which drastically limited the Jets offense while also holding back his necessary progression at the position.

Jets management finally felt that it was time to make a change at the offensive helm, and thusly fired Schottenheimer this offseason. They then hired former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano to replace him. Sparano was the head man in Miami for the past three plus seasons.

Time will prove if the coaching alteration will get Sanchez to the place that he, the Jets, and their fans believe he is more than capable of getting to. “We’ve won a lot of football games with Mark as the starting quarterback of the New York Jets and that’s what really concerned us,” said Tannenbaum. “It’s not a projection, it’s not a hope, it’s not an incremental leap of faith. Here’s a three year body of work.

“That said, we don’t have blinders on. It has to get better and it will get better. We think he’ll become more consistent. Taking a long view of things, we’re excited and encouraged by the trajectory of Mark’s career.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/

The article Jets Give Sanchez Extension, Out of Peyton Sweepstakes appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

After coming within one game of making it to the Super Bowl for the second straight year the New York Jets are looking to bolster their roster to take the final step and get to and win a Super Bowl. Coming into this off season the Jets had a lot of questions facing them with many key pieces to their team becoming free agents.

So far the Jets haven’t made a “splash” in free agency, but have made some key moves to sure up there team going into this season and haven’t been shy about throwing money around. The first move was to place the franchise tag on David Harris which he signed a tender for $10.4 million. He has since reworked his contract and signed a 4 year $36 million deal.

From there they moved onto the harder part of deciding which key members to retain. With Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Antonio Cromartie, Brad Smith, Shaun Ellis, Eric Smith, Brodney Pool, as well as kicker Nick Folk and punter Steve Weatherford all due to be free agents there was quite the daunting task facing GM Mike Tannenbaum.

Tannenbaum made Holmes their top priority and re-signed him to a 5 year $50 million deal. The Jets then turned their focus to arguably best available free agent Nnamdi Asomugha and for a few days it seemed as if the Jets were the front runner to land him and potentially have the two best corners in the game on the same team.

Asomugha eventually chose Philadelphia as his destination and the Jets then worked out a deal with Antonio Cromartie signing him to a 4 year $32 million deal. However, due to the Jets waiting on Asomugha to decide they lost all purpose WR Brad Smith to the division rival Bills. Now for all of you counting at home, so far that’s a whopping $118 million between 3 players.

This unfortunate tally ultimately lead to the Jets lack of interest in other big name WR Braylon Edwards. Rumored to have interest in other FA wide receiver Randy Moss, the Jets went with Plaxico Burress and have since signed the former Giants player who recently was released from prison stealing him away from his former team and following in the path of the Eagles who did the same with Mike Vick.

The Jets while taking a gamble on Burress as no one is sure what kind of shape he’s in or where his skills are at after two years away, were able to get him a much cheaper cost than Braylon Edwards and both have the same skill set of a tall deep threat receiver. The Jets have also re-signed S Eric Smith to a 3 year $7.5 million deal helping to sure up their secondary where they are somewhat thin past Revis and Cromartie.

So far the Jets staff has done a great job in being able to hold onto the key pieces they might have lost in free agency and adding talent to make up for what they have lost. With the season only a month away and some cap room still to work with don’t put it past Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan to make another big move or two to bring in more talent to a team on the brink of a championship.

Don’t be surprised if they re-sign DE Shaun Ellis to a short deal or go out and make a move for a pass rusher, Osi Umenyiora being the big name out there right now available for trade due to being unhappy with the Giants. So far this hasn’t been the off season of miracles for the Jets as the Eagles with all there big FA signings win that one, but has none the less been exactly what the Jets need to gear up for another shot at the Super Bowl.

Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

The article A Look at The Jets Offseason Moves So Far appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.