NFL insider doesn’t sound convinced the Jets plan to get desperate

Ideally, the day will come sooner rather than later when the football world creates the Arch Manning version of the “Suck for Luck” trend.

Whatever the name turns out to be, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano doesn’t see the New York Jets participating. 

For once, that’s not a knock on the moribund Jets and their decade-long streak of losing seasons.

While evaluating the Jets’ quarterback situation on Tuesday morning, Graziano said he does not believe the team will tank to secure a higher draft pick. Manning and Oregon’s Dante Moore are the consensus top-two quarterback prospects.

“Three first-round picks should enable the Jets to move around the draft in any number of ways to finally find their long-term answer,” Graziano wrote. 

Jets fans should cherish the thought of not tanking

Basketball fans, particularly those who root for the Philadelphia 76ers, can say whatever they want in defense of tanking.

Put candidly, tanking is absurdly short-sighted and dangerous.

Even if the Jets wanted to tank for Manning or Moore, so much of that process (pun not intended) is out of their hands. Neither player is guaranteed to be a star — and in Luck’s case, injuries ended his career before he even turned 30.

Sports are better when teams leave no doubt that they’re trying, even in the final weeks of a lost season.

The counter is that winning meaningless late-season games, as the Jets did in 2020, can cost teams the player they want. December victories over the Rams and Browns essentially prevented the Jets from drafting Trevor Lawrence the following spring.

Granted, a cynic might argue that the outcome would have been the same, and Lawrence would have failed in New York, as Zach Wilson did.

Regardless, the point is that Jets fans should be thrilled by the prospect of their team foregoing tanking. We just saw the NBA change its draft lottery rules to prevent teams from giving the impression that they’re intentionally losing.

Not that the Jets would openly admit that they would accept losing if it meant having a higher draft pick. The consequences would be dire.

All of this assumes the Jets plan to take a quarterback in the first round next year. Theoretically speaking, they could try using those picks to trade for a veteran quarterback. 

Would the Bengals or Ravens truly say no if the Jets, and all of their trade capital, wanted Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson?

It’s always a great sign when these are the questions we’re asking with less than 100 days remaining until Week 1. 

But, at least we’re not talking about when the Jets should start tanking, or what the best way to do so is. Things are slowly improving.

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