Might be a little strong

This might be a little strong at this point . . .

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said the Jets believe Derek Carr is “the type of quarterback that can win them a championship.”

Look, as Dr. Norman Vincent Peale preached, the power of positive thinking is important, but when a QB is 63-79 as an NFL starter in nine years, and never won a division, this verbiage might be a little strong.

But remember, it might have come from the agent, who has a lot of surrogates in the media who carry his water.

“Carr has a very good PR machine out there where he will get his story to people out there to make it look like he was a lot of leverage,” said former NFL GM Mike Lombardi. “Pellisaro, Rapoport – all those guys – there all attuned to it. [The agent] is telling them what to say and the gullibility of the media, they just write what he says.”

Anybody who is preaching that rhetoric about Carr, did they watch him play with the Raiders for nine years?

Look, don’t get me wrong, he’s not a bad quarterback. He’s had some very good games over the years.

But some might argue that it’s best to try to just make the playoffs first, before you talk about championships, and that isn’t meant to be flippant.

The Jets have missed the playoffs 12 years in a row, and Carr has played in one playoff game.

Of course your ultimate goal is to win a championship, but “process thinking” is important in sports. Take it one step at a time.

Nick Saban is a big believer in his – just focus on the next step of the process, not the end result. In other words, the next lift in the weight room, the next rep on the practice field, and if you do that to the best of your ability, it can lead to good results at the end of the road.

And while some would say that it’s quite a compliment to Carr for the Jets to say that, it could also scare him a little bit.

If they sign him, they think he lead them to a championship.

He never won a division title in nine years with the Raiders. So maybe it’s best to try to win a division first.

Or process think, and just try to win the next film session.

Carr has a lot of talent, but there are things that need to be fixed with this QB before he takes the next step, even at his age (32), like not throwing out of bounds on third-and-5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving them the ball back for a game-winning drive.

So how about telling him, “We think you are a hell of a player and we can do good things with you?” Leave it at that. Talking about championships is powerful language, and it also puts a target on his back with the media if you don’t win a championship.

But the most important thing is to get Carr’s camp, and his agents’ surrogates in the media, to pipe down.

If you want him, recruit the heck of him, but stop the leaks about what went on in the meetings. That should be private.

And leaking all this flowery stuff about the player might jack up the price tag – “You think I can win you a championship, then pay me the going rate for top quarterbacks – $45 million-a-year.”

You could make a strong argument he’s not worth that kind of money.

But if this kind of talk continues, that could be where this ends up, if he ends up being their guy.

December 22, 2023

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