Rex Ryan says Jets don't want Peyton Manning

Who needs Favre Watch? Let Manning Watch begin.

Rumors have been swirling around the Jets training center for weeks that the club might be a possible destination for Colts superstar quarterback Peyton Manning if the future Hall of Famer were made available this spring. Back in late November, coach Rex Ryan shot the idea down after Mark Sanchez completed 40 percent of his passes in a victory over the Bills; now he is trying to extinguish the rumors again.

Remember: where there is smoke there is fire.

Ryan defended both Sanchez and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenhiemer on the Jets awful performance against the New York Giants Saturday, saying:

"I have a huge amount of confidence in both guys; there is no doubt. I have stated it over and over, my feelings about Mark Sanchez. It wasn’t Mark’s best day by any stretch of the imagination, but we know he’s done it, and he's been doing it, and we have great confidence in him, and I I have great confidence in him.

"And as far as Brian Schottenheimer is concerned, shoot, we’ll just keep working side by side, shoulder by shoulder, and we’re trying to find a way to beat Miami. So I have confidence in him, all our coaches. We have to find a way to get it done."

This season has been a nightmare for this offense. They are ranked 21st in the NFL in passing and Sanchez dropped back to pass 59 times, completing only 30 passes for a measly 225 yards. This season, Sanchez has completed only 10 passes of 20 yards or more and was 4-for-24 when attempting deep passes to both Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes. Visually, Sanchez holds the ball way too long, and even takes terrible sacks that puts the team in one huge hole after another. He under-throws and over-throws his receivers consistently, and when he does go deep, he is prone to an interception, including those that end up as touchdowns for the opposition.

Moreover, he has not improved in key categories, like completion percentage (55 percent), quarterback rating (73 percent), and thrown picks (15 interceptions) than all of last year.

While the Jets offensive line can be blamed for part of this, Sanchez has been under siege a lot because of the poor play from Matt Slausen, Vlad Duccasse, and Wayne Hunter; facts are facts and Sanchez is not getting it done.

Keep in mind that Sanchez is Ryan's guy. He is tied to him whether the coach truly likes it or not. Ryan has consistently defended Sanchez. Even in his book, "Play Like You Mean It," Ryan spends a lot of time defending the organization's decision to target Sanchez. In fact, Ryan said one thing that attracted him to Sanchez was his vibrant personality which was on display by the number of teammates that came out to support him during his rookie workout at USC. Ryan chose to overlook that it was USC, a.k.a. Party-town USA.

The Jets are more likely to fire Schottenheimer whose hideous play-calling was on full display, Saturday. Even though the Jets gave him a contract extension through 2013, it doesn't mean the Jets won't make a move.

But, as one looks at the future of this franchise and reads into the Mike Florio report from NBC on Christmas day, Sanchez is on watch as well. The most likely scenario: the Jets will sign a veteran like Kyle Orton in the off-season who can compete for the starting job in training camp. The Jets are paying Sanchez $8 million a year over the next two years, which weighs into this decision.

But as Rich Cimini wrote on ESPN.com, the Jets always do something big in the off-season, especially the past four years.

After a 4-12 campaign in 2007, the Jets decided they had enough of the Chad Pennington experience. Pennington had seven mediocre years in New York, with his first season in 2002 his only solid season. Other than that, Pennington battled injuries and poor arm strength, so, by 2007, he looked washed up.

The Jets made a deal that landed them Brett Favre who changed his mind about retirement in 2008. Reports at the time called the Jets a potential landing spot along with the Vikings, Bucs and Ravens, but Mike Tannenbaum and the Jets front office consistently denied reports, and, at one point, said they had no interest in Favre. Then, all of a sudden, in the middle of the night on August 10, Favre was traded from the Packers to the Jets.

Now in 2011, the Jets are finding themselves in similar talks for Peyton Manning. Rumors everywhere say that the Jets would make the most sense for Manning since they are the only team that can win right away. Other teams in the rumor mix include the Redskins, 49ers, Titans, Seahawks, Chiefs, and Cardinals.

Ryan always professed that Manning was the best quarterback in the NFL, and for as much as Ryan wants to back up Sanchez by asserting he will be the quarterback of the Jets for 15 years, won't mean much when it comes time for him and Tannenbaum to make a decision. While Rex would like to help Sanchez, he has to help himself first, and if a healthy Manning gets him to that Super Bowl title he desperatly wants, don't think for a minute he wouldn't hesitate to do it.


That being said, Ryan continues to state that the Jets have zero interest in Manning.

"I've said from Day One I thought he was the best quarterback in the National Football League, I even put him over Tom Brady, so of course I recognize Peyton Manning is an unbelievable quarterback," Ryan said on ESPN 1050 Radio today, in an interview with Stephen A. Smith. "But do I think it’s even a consideration for us? No. I'm going to say this, I’m going to tell you there is no way we are looking to replace Mark Sanchez, there's no doubt," Ryan said.


"If they were both out there and you were starting a draft, would you take Peyton Manning? Yeah, I’d take Peyton Manning over anybody, I'm not saying that. Of course, I'm not telling that lie; of course I would take him. But right now, when you are looking at our football team and our franchise, we feel great about our quarterback situation. He’s young. Is he going to get better? He absolutely is. Is he perfect? Not by any stretch of the imagination right now, and (none of us) are. But, we think he has the ability to be special."


You can read this quote two different ways. 1) Take it for what it is. The Jets have no interest in Manning, and are committed the Mark Sanchez at quarterback and from a financial standpoint. It makes some sense; he's young, and the Jets want to see him break out one of these years before moving on.

Peyton Manning & Rex Ryan together? Rex says don't bet on it.

Or, (2) read between the lines and see this: For the Jets to move on from Sanchez, it would take a Peyton Manning-type quarterback to make that happen. The Jets are intrigued by Manning, but, like they did with Favre, will stay mute on the subject until something happens. If Manning is healthy, having him as a Jet for two or three years makes too much sense. The team has the talent level to make the club successful, and to combine Manning's offensive expertise with Ryan's defensive prowess is enough to make fans' mouths water.

Obtaining Manning might be tricky though. He has a huge contract with $28 million a year coming to him, and any team willing to trade draft picks for him would inherit a contract of a quarterback who is coming back from a career-threatening neck injury.

The Colts have said as much that they will not trade Manning and would be willing to keep him if healthy. The Colts have also expressed continued interest in drafting Stanford's Andrew Luck, who is considered by many to be the best quarterback in the draft. Having those two on the roster might ruffle a lot of feathers, which puts Indianapolis in a position to move Manning.

They might be saying they won't trade him, with knowledge that no team would be willing to take his contract, which means releasing Manning and making him a free agent is possible. If he goes free agent, a whole bunch of teams would go after him, and don't think for a minute that Woody Johnson wouldn't ask Tannenbaum to at least explore it. Johnson has always said that he wants to have a top quarterback on his team so he can continue to sell off PSL's in the still-fairly new MetLife Stadium.

Sanchez was supposed to be that star quarterback who would fill seats, but after Saturday, and after this season, would Johnson and the Jets seriously reconsider? It will be the drama of the off-season for sure.