According to the story, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum went on 1050 ESPN Radio and said that the organization will look very carefully at the quarterback position, hinting that the position will look very "different" on opening day, September 9.
"We're looking at that position very carefully, and I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of the day, by September, that position group as a whole looks a little bit different than it did at the end of the 2011 season," Tannenbaum said.
Tannenbaum, who is famous for swinging big time deals like he did in ridding the Jets of another mediocre quarterback, Chad Pennington for the services of Brett Favre in 2008, did not extinguish the fire on the Peyton Manning rumors.
"It's really important that we always try to improve the team. With that said, I expect Mark Sanchez to be our quarterback next year, but when we have opportunities to improve our team, that's what we're going to do. You still have to do what's in the best interest of the team," Tannenbaum said. "My philosophy is you've got to be aggressive, you have to know what's going on out there, and you have to look for opportunities."
While it may be a load of nothing from Tannenbaum, the facts are out there. Sanchez has shown little improvement from year one to two to year three. His completion percentage has been stuck around 55 %, and his quarterback rating has been a steady 78. He turned the ball over 26 times, and he still has the "deer in the headlights" look he had when he was a rookie.
While a lot of the Jets problems can be attributed to a dreadful offensive line, running game, and overrated defense, there are too many dissenting voices in the Jets clubhouse who have come out publicly, and anonymously, against Sanchez.
Several unnamed Jets players said that the Jets needed to look in another direction shortly after last season, and former Jet LaDainian Tomlinson said that the Jets coddled Sanchez too much during his two years with the team.
If the Jets are serious about Manning, they will have to send Sanchez out of town. They can't pay two quarterback roughly $8-10 million a season. Sanchez is due $16 million over the next two years.
If the Jets strike out on Manning, and the future Hall of Famer lands in Miami or Arizona, then the Jets will likely try to sign one of the many free agent quarterbacks out there such as Chad Henne or Kyle Orton to challenge for the starting job, and possibly take over as the starter, if Sanchez gets off to a hideous start in 2012.
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