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Interesting observation from a reporter . . .
. . . after we talked to Josh McCown on Sunday.
“He’s getting tired of it,” he said.
Getting tired of the having to do these press conferences talking about the quarterback competition, how he feels if he loses, how does he feel about mentoring Darnold, how does he feel about the limited reps, how does he feel about not playing in preseason games and so forth.
it’s tedious.
And he’s had to do this for several months.
On top of that, you have Todd Bowles teasing the media and public that he has “a good feeling” who it’s going to be, but he’s not saying.
But you know what, while it’s tedious, McCown is getting $10 million to participate in this Kabuki Theatre, so you can make the argument, it’s not the worst situation to deal with considering how well compensated he is.
Would you deal with months of nails on a chalk board questions for $10 million.
I’m sure a lot of us would sign up for that.
But you wonder how the Jets money people feel about paying McCown that money if he ends up being the backup.
$10 million for a backup?
You have to wonder if Ira Axselrad, the man who oversees the finances at “The Johnson Company,” is comfortable paying a backup $10 million?
Don’t you think the people who oversee the finances would be more comfortable with Bridgewater as the backup?
So with all the talk about Bridgewater being the trade bait, don’t you think people Ira might want to see McCown traded, and to go with Bridgewater as the backup.
The Jets are clearly keeping a close eye on the bottom-line. They have recently had some executives shown the door to save some money.
So why would they want to pay a backup, if that is what he ends up being, making $10 million?
And speaking of money, if Darnold is named the starter in Week One, you have to wonder if the business side is a factor in the decision.
There were 25,000 people at the scrimmage in Rutgers to see Darnold in his first practice open to the public. It was unreal.
At MetLife Stadium on Friday, I saw people in Darnold shirts and jerseys.
You’d have to think Darnold would be better for the Jets at the gate then McCown or Bridgewater.
People are into shiny new products.
Just like so many people were pushing Josh Allen to start in Buffalo, at least until he got beat up against Cincinnati in the third preseason game.
So you wonder if the Jets start Darnold, if Ira and company were subtly involved in the decision.
After all, this is a business.
We can never lose sight of that.
I can’t speak for Christopher, but Woody made some personnel moves with marketing clearly on his mind – like the Tim Tebow and Brett Favre trades, and the re-signing of Darrelle Revis in 2015.
woody was at the Jets’ third preseason game, visiting from London.
Who knows what Chris, Ira and Woody talked about, but you have to being living in cave to not realize that Darnold will sell more tickets.
And the Jets, who have shaved some front office payroll the last few months, with the departures of Seth Rabinowitz, Bruce Speight, Bobby Parente, Jackie Davidson and Clay Hampton, probably wouldn’t mind the cash flow that Darnold starting would provide.
With that in mind, would they feel comfortable with a $10 million backup? Stay tuned.
August 27, 2018
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