In the ultimate win-now league, the New York Jets appear to be punting on an entire season.
Jets general manager John Idzik knew he wasn't going to pay Darrelle Revis after 2013, so he traded the cornerback to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Jets believed they couldn't change quarterbacks this season because of Mark Sanchez's big contract, so they are giving Sanchez one last, hopeless last chance. Jets coach Rex Ryan is too well-paid and well-liked by ownership to be fired. So far.
So the Jets split the difference and put off truly rebuilding until 2014. Make no mistake: 2013 is a kamikaze mission for Ryan. In a win-or-else season for the coach, Ryan's bosses are thinking mostly about the future. Ryan's bosses are asking him for the impossible: Win with a badly depleted roster led by Sanchez and David Garrard at quarterback.
Idzik is right to look ahead. The Jets have more roster holes than the 2013 NFL Draft can fix, and they need to load up on young talent at guard, wide receiver, tight end and throughout the front seven on defense. I'm just not sure why they failed to completely press reset and let Ryan go now.
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The Jets have two first-round draft picks after trading Revis to the Bucs. Will Idzik use them to draft defensive players who fit Ryan's scheme when Ryan probably won't be around after another season? Or will they wait to draft their "quarterback of the future" until their coach of the present is gone?
The two philosophies don't mesh. It's yet another sign of a dysfunctional franchise, with the Revis trade another sign that Rex's coaching career might resemble his father Buddy's.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
