The New York Jets have been busy in free agency and Joe Douglas and co. are doing everything they can to build a winning team around Aaron Rodgers to finally end the longest playoff drought currently in North American professional sports.
Joe has rebuilt the offensive line, added some depth to the defense and got legitimate backup quarterback in case Rodgers needs to miss any time.
That backup quarterback is NOT Zach Wilson.
The Jets made their intentions known at the end of the season that they planned to move on from Zach Wilson and bring in a veteran backup to Rodgers after watching the disastrous season unfold last year. They signed Tyrod Taylor to a two-year deal worth $18 million to be the number two QB on the roster.
Meanwhile, all around the league, young quarterbacks who were once looked at as the future of their respective franchises are being traded away for pennies on the dollar.
In the last few weeks alone, we saw a slew of young QB trades including:
- Mac Jones traded from the New England Patriots to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick.
- Sam Howell was traded from the Washington Commanders to the Seattle Seahawks along with a fourth and sixth rounder for a third and fifth round pick.
- Justin Fields traded from the Chicago Bears to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick.
- Kenny Pickett along with a fourth-round pick traded by the Steelers to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third and two seventh rounders.
- Desmond Ridder traded by the Atlanta Falcons for Rondale Moore from the Arizona Cardinals.
None of these QB’s lived up to the hype they were drafted with, but for the most part they were all but given away to teams that will hope to unlock the talent that made them worth such a high draft choice in the first place.
One name remains absent from this list: Zach Wilson. Wilson fits into the same category as all these players. Young, highly-touted quarterbacks that never really lived up to the hype. So, why haven’t the Jets moved him yet?
The simple answer could be that nobody is interested in trading for the former number two overall pick. I find that hard to believe considering some of the names that are on rosters as well as the stock Wilson had coming out of college.
I think the more likely situation is the Jets are smartly playing the market. All of these quarterbacks that were dealt were practically given away because the demand for their services is low and the supply is high. This is basic economics. If the Jets gave Wilson away now, it would be just another drop in the bucket.
But if the Jets were to hold on to him for a few more weeks and months, the demand could go up. I mean, 66 quarterbacks started a game last year in the NFL. That’s more than two per team.
So, while I believe the compensation for Wilson’s services plummeted as soon as the Patriots took a lowly sixth-rounder for Mac Jones, the market could turn around as the supply diminishes for serviceable QBs (insert Zack Wilson isn’t serviceable joke here).
The hard fact for the Jets is they can’t have Wilson on the team once training camp starts. His $11million cap hit is simply too high for a third-string QB who has no future with the team. That number will be reduced in half if the Jets are able to trade him.
If the Jets simply cut Wilson (which is a possibility) then they would still have to carry his $11 million dead cap hit.
Douglas could still pair with Wilson with another draft pick in exchange for a slightly better draft choice, say Wilson and a fourth for a better fourth, just to ease the cap hit some, but at this point, it might be better to let the market come to him.
One thing is for certain, we have seen the end of the Zach Wilson tenure in New York.
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