Nobody wants to be the general manager of the New York Jets. This is weird.
"They can't give the position away," Fox Sports insider and NFL Network contributor Jay Glazer reported Sunday. "They are now calling back candidates that turned them down, saying please reconsider."
The Jets come off like the pimply-faced teen unwilling to take no for an answer in their doomed search for a prom date. Calling candidates back and asking them to reconsider? That's a pungent whiff of desperation right there.
(We'll now give Jets fans the appropriate time to digest just how close you were to the Super Bowl two short years ago. Take however long you need. We'll be here.)
Though we didn't feel this sort of thing needed to be pointed out, it's intrinsically insane that a GM job in the NFL would be ignored. After all, there are only 32 of these gigs on the planet. Many a loyal team employee has gone to the grave without reaching the top rung of professional football's personnel ladder.
You can make the argument that the Jets' job is the best on the market right now. Seriously. Here's why:
»*Rex Ryan is not a problem:* Yes, you're stuck with him next year, but you'll have every right to kick him out the door if the team stumbles again. He's a built-in mulligan. And who knows, you might even learn to love the big galoot.
»*Woody Johnson is not a problem:* The Johnson era has been marked by some obvious grabs at the spotlight, but he doesn't strike us a man unable to listen to reason. Make good decisions and deliver results and even the most meddlesome of owners (in the non-Jerry Jones division) will back off.
»*You can manage with Mark Sanchez for now:* Like Ryan, you're only handcuffed to Sanchez for one year. Then again, is having Sanchez on the roster such a bad thing? Think about it: Say you select a QB early in the draft. Sanchez allows you the option to ease your hypothetical rookie hotshot into the lineup. If Sanchez somehow manages to turn his career around, great, maybe he has some trade value after all. If not, the future becomes now.
»*There are some pieces on this roster:* Darrelle Revis needs to get healthy (not to mention paid), but don't be surprised when the training camp stories surface about the star cornerback looking better than ever. Nick Mangold is a top-shelf center in his prime. Antonio Cromartie, D'Brickashaw Ferguson and David Harris are quality pieces to the puzzle. This is a roster that needs plenty of work, but let's not pretend an incoming GM is inheriting the 2008 Lions.
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»*Salary-cap hell is more like purgatory:ESPN reported the Jets are currently $19.4 million over the salary cap, the worst such figure in the league. But they go $8.3 million *under the moment the team says goodbye to Bart Scott, Jason Smith and Calvin Pace, according to the New York Daily News. Yes we can!
»*The bar for success remains shockingly low:* The Jets haven't appeared in the Super Bowl since 1969. They're 0-4 in AFC Championship Games. They have exactly two AFC East titles in their history. If you can build a culture of winning, you're the second coming. Which reminds us ...
»*There's no better place to win than New York:* It's cliche but true. This is a city and region that loves and remembers its winners. Bring the Lombardi back to Gang Green and you're practically knighted. You'll also never pay for another wing at the Hooters in East Rutherford, so there's that.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
