A Get Up segment by former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum just created a hypothetical NFL locker room so chaotic it hurts to think about.
The ESPN morning show crew was debating potential landing spots for Russell Wilson in the event he gets cut by the Denver Broncos. The 12-year veteran would cost Denver $85 million in dead cap with a $49.6 million cap hit if released before June 1.
“I think [Russell Wilson] would actually be a great fit with the New York Jets,” the former Gang Green GM said. “Absolutely. Pay him $1 million and let him resurrect his career.”
Tannebaum’s comments were met with groans and guffaws by the rest of the desk.
“I actually have experience with this,” Tannenbaum continued. “Vinny Testaverde got cut by the Baltimore Ravens. We signed him in June and went to the championship game that year.”
To clarify Tannenbaum’s anecdote, signing Testaverde did save the Jets’ season, but only because they had no real quarterback to begin with. Neil O’Donnell lost his job to Glenn Foley, and first-year head coach Bill Parcells decided to cut O’Donnell. As “winner” of the starting gig, Foley only won one of his two outings in 1997, then lost the first two outings of the 1998 season. Testaverde got passed up in Baltimore for Jim Harbaugh, only to work with prime Keyshawn Johnson and get lifted by a Parcells-Bill Belichick defense that finished fourth in the league in DVOA that year. Without the last-minute Testaverde pickup, this would have looked like nearly every Jets team of the 21st century – great defense, solid skill position players, and no quarterbacks.
“Where else is he going to go?” “He has to resurrect his career. If you have to sit for a year, why not sit behind one of the greatest of all time and be a free agent again?”
None of the co-hosts took kindly to Tannenbaum’s hypothetical.
“I can give you 50 reasons…” one of the co-hosts muttered out of frame.
“Florham Park would be like The Real Husbands of Hollywood if you have Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson…” another added.
“Mike T ‘bout to make me go downstairs in my bar and take a shot of tequila,” Harry Douglas responded.
Look at Dan Graziano’s eyes. It’s a look of nothing but pure contempt for Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum is right insomuch that if Wilson does get cut by Denver, he likely won’t be able to walk into a starting job. There are so few openings in the league one month out from free agency. Washington, New England, Atlanta, Minnesota, Chicago, and Pittsburgh look like the most prominent. At least half of those will be filled through the draft. Minnesota likely would not want another veteran retread. Atlanta and Pittsburgh could go either direction.
Do you know what none of those teams currently have? Over $100 million already tied up in the quarterback position. That’s not even mentioning that all that money is tied up in one of the most cantankerous signal-callers currently in the league. Aaron Rodgers is formally on the books through next year, then the Jets eat a $63 million cap hit in 2026. Wilson would also be reunited with former Broncos head coach and current Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett and Wilson were so bad together that Hackett became just the fifth NFL coach since 1970 to get fired before the end of their first season.
Like it or not, Rodgers is the guy until he retires. If rostering a 41-year-old quarterback off the heels of an Achilles injury is too stressful, the 2023 season proved just how effective backup quarterbacks can be in a pinch. Joe Flacco, Joshua Dobbs, Gardner Minshew, Tyrod Taylor, Tommy DeVito, Andy Dalton, and Jake Browning all picked up wins in a pinch. The year prior, Jacoby Brissett and Tyler Huntley filled in well – in Brissett’s case, better than the starter.
Bringing in someone with just as big a personality as Rodgers is not the way to build a sound roster. Douglas took that a little too close to heart when he refused to bring in a single backup option at the trade deadline last season. The Jets have hopefully learned the lesson that they need somebody in the fold. However, this is a team desperate for normalcy. Garrett Wilson called 2023 the “worst year of [his] life.” An anonymous Jets coach called the Jets’ stretch of ineptitude “such a f*cking mess” in a report by The Athletic. Bringing Wilson into that scenario isn’t just a redundancy, it’s one that puts a team already at wit’s end past its breaking point.
