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Once upon a time, and not that long ago, the phone would ring in the office of Jets general manager Joe Douglas, and a general manager from another team might strike up a conversation that looked like this:
“Hey Joe, congratulations on the news gig. … Um, I wonder if Sam Darnold might be available (nervous laughter). “
(Laughs) Click.
Fast forward to now:
“Hey Joe, we’re in the QB market, can we talk about Sam?”
“Of course possible! We don’t have untouchables on our team, not after a 2-14 season. We still love Sam, make no mistake about it, but don’t hesitate, give me your best offer and we’ll see where it takes you.
Sam Darnold, the Jets’ potential savior three brief drafts ago, is writhing in the wind these days, resigned and reduced to waiting for Douglas to make his decision to change the franchise over the quarterback’s decision.
Douglas Wednesday: “I’ll answer the call if it’s made.”
That means Darnold is in a different boat than three of his 2018 quarterback classmates. Bills won’t answer the call if he’s on Josh Allen. The Browns will not answer the call if it is made on Baker Mayfield. The Ravens won’t answer the call if it’s thrown on Lamar Jackson. Darnold is in the boat with Josh Rosen.
“Our stance on Sam hasn’t changed,” said Douglas.
Nice try, Joe.
Yes it is.
“He’s an extremely talented player, he’s very smart, very tough. … We have no doubt that Sam will reach his exceptional potential, ”said Douglas on Wednesday.
It’s a GM talk, of course, designed to inflate the value of its asset to potential suitors. Because (wink, wink) this exceptional potential can be achieved in a different uniform.
“Obviously we’re getting as much information as possible through free will and the draft, but our stance on Sam hasn’t changed,” said Douglas.
Once again, GM’s speech was crafted to keep the poor kid’s hope that he can resurrect his career with the franchise that drafted him.
The NFL can be such a cruel business. It was just 11 months ago, before the 2020 draft, when Douglas said:
“When I first met Sam’s parents in the first preseason game [August 2019], I promised them that I would do everything in my power to take care of Sam with protection and playmakers.
Sadly, even with left tackle Mekhi Becton, Sam needed more protection, and even with wide injury-ravaged receivers Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman, he needed more playmakers (and less Adam Gase ), and here it is now:
Wondering if Douglas will use the general’s second pick on BYU’s Zach Wilson or Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and reset the quarterback’s financial clock and trade Darnold.
You wonder if Douglas will enter the Deshaun Watson draw if the Texans give in and entertain his business desires and trade him.
You wonder if Douglas will trade second pick and build around it with his top two picks this year and six of the 98 top picks … not to mention a top pick pair in 2022.
To Darnold, it must sound like a nerve-racking game of musical quarterbacks knowing only that he won’t be left without a chair, but maybe not the chair he prefers.
It seems like a lifetime ago, former general manager Mike Maccagnan and his team took Darnold to dinner in Morristown a week before the 2018 draft and left them deflated because they were convinced the Browns would use the first choice of the general against him.
It seems like a lifetime ago, when then-coach Todd Bowles named Darnold the starter for opening night in Detroit and euphoric Jets fans started their “JETS, Jets, Jets. , Jets! ” singing behind the Lions bench after the kid rocked a pick-six on his first pass in the NFL and staged a 48-17 win. And then hugged her proud parents outside the visiting locker room.
Finally, the long-lost answer to Broadway Joe Namath.
These titles:
Sam’s club.
Samsational.
Samazing.
Sam The Man.
The mononucleosis wasn’t going to stop him.
Gase was going to be his quarterback whisperer.
No one imagined he would see ghosts on national television against Bill Belichick.
No one imagined he would regress in his third season (nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions, mind-blowing decision-making) and see his career TD-INT ratio drop to 45-39, and his win-lose record drop to 13- 25.
Nothing gives a fan base more hope than a young franchise quarterback.
Sam Darnold was the Golden Boy.
He has no idea if he still is.
Wilson Pro Day is March 26. Fields Pro Day is March 30. Both Jets will be in effect.
Douglas’s phone will ring. The CEO will answer the call.
He should do it too.
If Douglas has the same belief on Wilson or Fields that Maccagnan had on Darnold, he should recruit him.
Watson will cost a shipment, but it’s worth it, and Douglas has plenty of draft capital and $ 80 million in cap.
March Madness for Sam Darnold. And maybe beyond.
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