Once upon a time, and not so long ago, the phone rang in the office of Jets general manager Joe Douglas, and a GM from another team could start a conversation that would look something like this:
“Hey Joe, congratulations on the show on the news. … Uh, wondering if Sam Darnold could be available (nervous laughter). “
(Laughter) Click.
Proceed to now:
“Hey, Joe, we’re in the QB market, can we talk about Sam?”
“Of course you can! We have no untouchables in our team, not after a 2-14 season. We still love Sam, make no mistake about it, but go ahead, make me your best offer and we’ll see where she goes. “
Sam Darnold, the supposed savior of the Jets three drafts ago, is spinning in the wind today, resigned and reduced to waiting for Douglas to make his decision to change the franchise over the quarterback’s decision.
Douglas on Wednesday: “I will take the call if it is made.”
This means that Darnold is on a boat other than three of his 2018 quarterback classmates. Bills will not answer the call if it is made on Josh Allen. The Browns will not answer the call if it is made at Baker Mayfield. The Ravens will not answer the call if it is made at Lamar Jackson. Darnold is on the boat with Josh Rosen.
“Our attitude towards Sam hasn’t changed,” said Douglas.
Nice try, Joe.
Yes, it does.
“He is an extremely talented player, very intelligent, very tough. … We have no doubt that Sam will reach his exceptional potential, ”said Douglas on Wednesday.
Of course, this is the language of GM, designed to inflate the value of its assets to potential suitors. Because (blink, blink) this exceptional potential can be achieved in a different uniform.
“Obviously, we are in the process of getting as much information as possible through the free agency and the draft, but our attitude towards Sam has not changed,” said Douglas.
Once again, GM’s language was designed to keep the poor boy hopeful that he can resurrect his career with the franchise that called him.
The NFL can be such a cruel business. It was just 11 months ago, before the 2020 draft, when Douglas said:
“When I met Sam’s parents in the first preseason game [August 2019], I promised them that I would do everything in my power to take care of Sam with protection and game makers. “
Unfortunately, even with the left tackle Mekhi Becton, Sam needed more protection, and even with the wide receivers ravaged by injuries Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman, he needed more breeders (and less Adam Gase), and here he is now:
Wondering whether Douglas will use the second general choice of BYU’s Zach Wilson or Ohio State’s Justin Fields, he will reset the quarterback’s financial watch and trade with Darnold.
Wondering whether Douglas will enter the draw for Deshaun Watson, in case the Texans give up and satisfy their commercial desires, and negotiate.
Wondering whether Douglas will trade from second choice and build around him with his first two choices this year and six of the 98 best choices … not to mention a couple of first choices in 2022.
To Darnold, it must seem like an unnerving game of musical quarterbacks knowing only that he will not be without a chair, but perhaps not the chair he prefers.
It seems like a lifetime ago ex-GM Mike Maccagnan and his team took Darnold out to dinner in Morristown a week before the 2018 draft and left discouraged because they were convinced the Browns would use the first general choice with him.
It seems like a long time ago when then-coach Todd Bowles named Darnold as the opening night holder in Detroit and the euphoric Jets fans started their “JETS, Jets, Jets, Jets!” sing behind the Lions bench after the boy shook a six pick on his first pass in the NFL and engendered a 48-17 win. And then he hugged his proud parents outside the visiting locker room.
Finally, the long-lost answer to Broadway Joe Namath.
These headlines:
Sam’s Club.
Samsational.
Samazing.
Sam the man.
Mononucleosis would not stop you.
Gase was going to be his quarterback whisper.
No one imagined that he would be watching ghosts on national television against Bill Belichick.
Nobody imagined that he would regress in his third season (nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions, making difficult decisions) and see his career’s TD-INT ratio drop to 45-39, and his win-loss record drop to 13-25.
Nothing gives more hope to a fan base than a young defender in the franchise.
Sam Darnold was the Golden Boy.
He has no idea if he still is.
Wilson’s Pro Day is March 26th. Fields Pro Day is March 30th. The Jets will be on both days.
Douglas’s phone is going to ring. The GM will take the call.
He should, too.
If Douglas has the same conviction about Wilson or Fields that Maccagnan had about Darnold, he should recruit him.
Watson will cost a lot, but it’s worth it, and Douglas has a lot of draft capital and $ 80 million in capitalization space.
March madness for Sam Darnold. And maybe even more.