Why the Jets Need To Get Rid of Sanchez...but Can't

Unfair or not, part of being a 1st round draft choice gives you the burden of producing immediate success.  Typically, a QB taken high is going to a team that is in desperate need of a passer.  In 2009, the Jets traded their 1st and 2nd round picks and 3 players to the Browns to move up to number five and snag Mark Sanchez, QB from USC.  The Jets were actually a pretty good team with a void at QB.  With Brett Favre at QB in 2008, the Jets finished with a 9-7 record and narrowly missed the playoffs.  After Favre retired from football (for the 2nd time) the Jets were faced with a hole at QB.  With an inexperienced Kellen Clemens as the only QB on the roster, they either had to make a play for a QB or settle on Clemens.

On draft day 2009, Mark Sanchez was riding the hype train all the way to the top of the draft boards.  He was ranked as the number two QB that day behind Georgia's Matthew Stafford.  However, Mark Sanchez was a huge risk considering he had just 16 college starts.  The Jets figured the inexperience was irrelevant and traded up to take him at #5 overall.  With $28 million guaranteed in his rookie contract, Sanchez was expected to perform immediately.

His results?  Disappointing.  It's very true that despite backing into the playoffs his 1st two years, the Jets made it to the AFC title game, but looking at HOW the Jets did it, Sanchez doesn't deserve much credit at all.  In 2009, the Jets were the 31st best passing offense.  In 2010 they were the 22nd best.  The reason the Jets won was clearly because of their #1 rushing and defensive units in 2008 and their #6 and #4 defensive and rushing units in 2010.  In those two years Sanchez threw 33 interceptions and fumbled 19 times while scoring just 35 times.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype, however.  The Jets were 20-12 over those two years and Sanchez scored 5 4th quarter comeback wins in those 20 wins so the Jets were playing exciting football.  Success is the best deodorant.  You win a ton of games and make them exciting and people tend to forget about the fact that you threw 4 INTs in a game last week.  But the fact of the matter is that the Jets' QB situation is horrendous.

Here are some quick facts about Sanchez:

• 16 of 59 starts had 2+ interceptions or about 27% of his games.
• He has been held without a TD pass in 17 of 59 starts or 29% of his games.
• 39 of 59 starts he has been held under 60% completions.
• 34 of 59 starts he has been held under 7.00 YPA.
• 15 of 59 starts he has been held under 150 yards passing.
• Just 12 of 59 starts have resulted in a 100+QB Rating.

Since 2010, however, the Jets haven't been as successful.  Why is that?  Simply, the run game and defense can't bail Sanchez out.  The last two seasons, the Jets have been ranked 20th and 19th on defense and 22nd and 11th rushing the ball.  There is some truth to the argument that the Jets offense lacks playmakers, but they have had some pretty good guys in there for Sanchez in the past and he's underperformed.  Many elite QBs can be successful with seemingly anybody as well.  Eli has Cruz, Brady has Welker, Romo has Austin, Favre had Driver, Peyton had Collie.  Great QBs can plug in anybody and have some sort of success.  Sanchez can't do that.  Sanchez has no respect and no control.

The biggest issue with Sanchez is that he's not getting better.  Fans are comparing Sanchez to Eli's first 4 years and I think that's downright insane.  After Eli's first season, he never dipped below 4% in TD %, a mark that Sanchez has only hit once in 4 seasons.  They are both sloppy with the ball, but Eli took some HUGE steps forward and he also consistently puts up points.  Sanchez has always look just downright bad with some flashes of good thrown in.

The Jets need a change at QB.  I don't think it should be Tebow or McElroy.  The Jets need new blood on their roster.  As Mike Florio from profootballtalk.com pointed out, the Jets had to deactivate McElroy to give Sanchez some confidence.  Sanchez is shaken and he's likely not going to recover.

What I find most offensive about the Jets, however, is Mike Tannenbaum.  I don't think most fans know just how badly the Jets will suffer because of the horrendous deals he's cut.  Currently, the Jets are going to be $20 million OVER the cap in 2013.  The Jets front-loaded Sanchez's contract, so 2013 is a very cap heavy year for his contract.  The Jets basically gave him a 2 year window to prove himself when he signed his extension in 2012.  Unfortunately, after 1 season, he needs to go.  If the Jets were to cut Sanchez, his guaranteed bonuses would accelerate to $17.1 million against the 2013 cap.  Since his current 2013 cap hit would be $12,853,125, it would add another $4.25 million to the $20 million the Jets are currently over for next year.  The Jets could cut Sanchez after June 1st as a "June 1st cut."  This would actually save the Jets $500,000 in 2013, but it also pushes $4.8 million to 2014.

Essentially, the issue is that Sanchez can't be cut and no team would trade for him.  Tannenbaum basically negotiated a contract that forces the Jets to at least roster Sanchez for one more year.  The Jets are going to have to make some serious cuts this year.  Guys like Santonio Holmes is definitely gone and David Harris may join him too.  The Jets may even do something drastic like trade D'Brickishaw Ferguson.  One thing is for certain, the Jets scouting staff and management may be the worst in the league.  The contracts they gave are just downright terrible.  I actually feel sympathy for Jets fans.