If Woody Johnson yearned for 38-year-old Brett Favre the way he did when Chad Pennington was dropped before the 2008 season, you’d better believe that he would like to make a fuss about Deshaun Watson now that Johnson is back.
Watson is one of the top five defenders at just 25 years of age, and he is the instant box office whenever the day he mercifully arrives, MetLife Stadium may be packed again with those long-suffering Jets fans. And long-suffering Jets fans too.
Jets GM Joe Douglas has the recruiting capital and New York Bleeping City’s allure to seduce Watson now that word has spread that he wants Houston to leave.
It’s a two-pronged sales attack for Douglas and the Jets:
Make the Texans an offer you can’t refuse.
Sell Watson on why Jets are the most desirable landing spot for the early years of his career.
See how:
The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season. The franchise has been a real graveyard for the franchise’s quarterbacks. There is no need for Douglas to refer to any of this.
But he can remind Watson that there is no better place to win than New York, even if the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center is in Florham Park. NJ E is a lovely facility, by the way.
Watson does not escape expectations that he would be the Savior of the Jets.
Watson’s championship days at Clemson tell us in no uncertain terms that he loves the bright lights and the big stage, as Michael Jordan used to do. The Jets were one of the teams that did not listen to coach Dabo Swinney of Clemson when he compared Watson to MJ, summoning Jamal Adams because then GM Mike Maccagnan apparently thought Christian Hackenberg would be Jordan. But Douglas can follow a tip from Mark McGwire – he is not here to talk about the past.
Instead, he will talk about Robert Saleh. Watson would love Saleh; all he needs to do is ask Richard Sherman, if he hasn’t already. If anyone likes gasoline and no brakes, it’s Deshaun Watson.
And Saleh has an important branch of the Kyle Shanahan tree, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. Watson would flourish in his attack.
Douglas has $ 63,475,814 in cap space, according to overthecap.com, and he will be a player in the free-agent market for a # 1 receiver (Allen Robinson, Chris Godwin) to join Denzel Mims and Jamison Crowder. He will find you Playmakers and Protectors.
Watson’s blind side would be protected by Man Mountain Mekhi Becton, who could remind Watson of Laremy Tunsil, his left tackle in Houston.
Douglas can proclaim the culture he started building – no IK Enemkpali, so there’s no reason for Watson to fear someone breaking his jaw in the locker room.
If Joe Namath could appear in pantyhose commercials once, the sky would be the limit for Watson in the field of endorsement.
Douglas should call Namath and ask him to launch the team and the city for Watson.
And now, for the other part of the Texans in two stages:
Douglas must be willing to shell out at least three first-round draft choices: the second overall choice and the 23rd choice in 2021, and the choice of Jets in 2022, which will almost certainly be a more valuable choice than what they received from the Seahawks in the Adams business. Douglas can sweeten the pot with autographed copies of Namath’s latest book: “All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters”.
The new GM Texans Nick Caserio could then sign Zach Wilson, Justin Fields or Trey Lance with the second overall choice.
Douglas can recover some capital from the draft – no less than a second-round choice – by swapping Sam Darnold for one of the many desperate defending teams: Bears, Lions, Panthers, Colts, Washington Football Team, Steelers, Saints, maybe Rams, maybe to Jon Gruden Raiders, but not the Patriots, thank you very much.
“He’s an unbelievable talent,” Saleh said of Darnold on the “Huddle and Flow” podcast.
A win-win statement from Saleh. Darnold would obviously benefit from the change of coach, but he could also benefit from a change of scenery. Saleh talking to him if the Jets plan to trade him is a smart deal. It is a smart business to express faith in him and at the same time increase your confidence.
Any negotiation would leave Douglas with a second and two third rounds in 2021, one from 2022 in the first round and a second and third, plus everything he could get for Darnold.
Douglas may have to defend himself against the Dolphins if they decide to upgrade instead of Tua Tagovailoa, and Watson would like the fact that there is no state income tax in Florida.
In 1997, the Jets swapped their choices for the first, second, third and fourth rounds with the Patriots for what turned out to be three years of Bill Parcells behind the scenes.
Watson, 26 in September, would only give the Jets their best player since Curtis Martin, their best defender since Broadway Joe.
If the situation comes to an end and he is forced to withdraw from the fourth round of the first round – probably in the 1920s – Douglas must swallow and do so, while insisting on a second or third round as part of the deal. Deshaun Watson makes everyone around him better and changes the organization’s perception. And he would be an invaluable recruiting tool for Saleh, because players from across the league will want to play with him.
For the besieged Jets, it would be the dawn of a new day. Or Deshaun of a new day. It is elementary, my dear Douglas.