East Rutherford NJ: Last week I took a run at the Mets organization, jokingly comparing them to the Trump Administration. Low blow I know, but the Mets have won four in a row and have powered their way into second place in the NL East. In this week’s rant on bad NY sport organizations, let’s turn to the New York Jets. You’re welcome Jets fans.
Why Now?
Mike Maccagnan claimed the cuts of David Harris and Eric Decker were not financially motivated and that the Jets are not tanking. If he said these things with a straight face, Trump should hire this guy. Those were lies, plain and simple.
The Jets have some talent with Quincy Enunwa, Robbie Anderson, and Co, but it is an unproven WR corps. Their reception leader on the roster has 80 career catches. That’s like four games for Odell Beckham Jr.
They have no legitimate options behind Harris. And even if they did decide to go younger at these positions, why not let it play out in spring training to make sure? It makes no sense except for money and tanking.
Woody Johnson acknowledged the bad timing of it all, saying there’s never a good time for this. There is actually. It’s after a season when they might see it coming. Not after you’ve let them think they’ve made the team. Harris is only the franchise’s second all time leading tackler. Jerks.
The Sacrificial Lamb
A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession.
Ok, Josh McCown is not that highly valued, but he’s actually made some money over the years. He had a season replacing Jay Cutler in Chicago where he completed 66.5% of his passes with 13 TDs and 1 pick. When Cutler got healthy, most fans wanted them to stay with McCown, if I recall correctly. He parlayed that into decent contracts with the Bucs, Browns, and Jets. It’s a QB starved league folks. This year he steps into a one year, $6 million contract with the Jets.
Wait, hold on a sec. Woah! Sorry, Aaron Judge’s home run ball from Sunday just passed my house. It might be starting its descent.
Anyway, the Jets clearly view McCown as a placeholder for Bryce Petty, Christian Hackenberg, Sam Darnold or one of the other bright QBs the Jets are tanking to draft. What is the best case scenario for McCown this year? He makes $6 million and doesn’t die? He will be pining for those good ol’ Browns after this season.
A Major League Tank
Seriously, this is like the plot of Major League for football. McCown is Jake Taylor, the grizzled veteran looking for one more chance. Enunwa is Willie Mays Hayes, the speedy upstart with some holes in his game. Matt Forte is Roger Dorn, the declining veteran who still thinks he’s good. How about Christian Hackenberg for Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaugh? Big arm, no accuracy. The manager/coach comparison doesn’t really work. They’re both about the same shape but Lou Brown is deep voiced and gruff, while Todd Bowles sounds like he just inhaled some helium while getting kicked in the pea pod. But I’ve gone too far with this already.
“The Jets win it. The Jets win it. Oh my God, the Jets win it!” Far fetched, I know. This is gonna get ugly. Come back tomorrow for our super special tanker, Angry Ward. Follow us on Twitter at @benwhit, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
