Philip Rivers once replaced Drew Brees in San Diego and the two are better than any quarterback the Jets have had since Joe Namath.
Connect the dots and it’s not impossible by the time the Jets are on the clock with the sixth pick in the first round on April 30 they will have to make this decision:
Rivers or Marcus Mariota?
Or:
Brees or Mariota?
Rivers has one year left on his contract and said he has no intention of signing an extension before the end of the 2015 season in part because of the uncertainty of whether the Chargers will be playing in Los Angeles in 2016. Maybe he doesn’t love L.A., but could he love the New Jersey countryside for his wife and kids?
Rivers turned 33 in December and has some very good years remaining. Tom Brady won his fourth Super Bowl at the age of 37. Peyton Manning threw an NFL-record 55 TDs when he was 37.
San Diego has a private workout planned for Mariota. He has already worked out for the Titans (second overall pick) and will work out for the Bucs (first pick) and Jets. The Chargers are way down at No. 17, which means if they plan to draft Mariota, the spread-offense QB from Oregon, they will have to trade up to get him. Mariota fever is starting to grip the league, and if the Jets want him, they might have to move up. But, just for fun, let’s say he’s still on the board at No. 6.
What if the Chargers offered Rivers for the Jets’ pick? I would do it in a second. Mariota is going to be a star, and he’s much better than anything the Jets have, but Rivers is a sure thing.
Rivers is making $15.75 million this season and San Diego can keep him next year with the franchise tag. If he does get traded — and the Mariota workout is the reason to believe San Diego would listen to offers — then the Jets would want to sign him to an extension to lower his cap number and make sure they have him for more than one season. Rivers was playing at an MVP level for much of the season and he finished with 31 TDs, playing through rib and back injuries.
Brees turned 36 in January. Sean Payton has given the Saints a new look in the offseason with big names coming and going and now there are rumors that the Saints want Mariota. That could mean Brees is on the way out, although it’s more likely to happen next year. He is making $18.75 million guaranteed this season and then $19.75 million next year. Dumping his contract would free up a lot of cap space. New Orleans owns the 13th and 31st picks so it has lots of ammunition to move up.
What if the Saints offered Brees for the Jets’ pick? I don’t do it.
If the Jets are presented with a choice of Brees or Rivers for the No. 6 pick, here’s what I would do: Trade for Rivers. He’s three years younger. Rivers and Brady are the two most competitive quarterbacks in the league and Rivers would give the Jets a huge personality.
The Jets have built a win-now team after investing $39 million in Darrelle Revis, who will be 30 in July, and $7 million guaranteed in 2015 for Antonio Cromartie, who will be 31 in April. They are also paying Brandon Marshall, who will be 31 on Monday, a hefty $7.7 million this season.
It’s foolish to pay that kind of money and then have Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback.
The rookie salary cap has ended the huge rookie contracts, so it’s financially feasible for Rivers and Brees to stay put even if their team is able to draft Mariota.
One other issue: If the Chargers and Saints are that hot for Mariota, maybe the Jets need to do everything they can to make sure he comes to Florham Park. Of course, all this becomes moot if the Titans take Mariota right after the Bucs take Jameis Winston.
JUST ABUSIVE
The domestic violence abusers’ free agent scoreboard:
– Greg Hardy, one of the best pass rushers in the NFL when he’s not beating up his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her, signed last week with the Cowboys. Hardy is still on the commissioner’s exempt list and likely faces a six-game suspension for violating the personal conduct policy after the NFL completes its review of his case.
RELATED: GREG HARDY POCKETS $48,000 PLAYOFF SHARE WHILE ON COMMISSIONER’S EXEMPT LIST
– Adrian Peterson, a child abuser who punished his 4-year-old boy by whipping him with a tree branch, is technically back with the Vikings, but probably not for long. He had his suspension overturned but is back on the commissioner’s exempt list. He has strongly suggested he doesn’t want to be in Minnesota, and the Vikings don’t plan to cut him. The Cardinals are hot to make a trade and Larry Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minneapolis, is risking his good-guy reputation by lobbying for his team to make a deal.
– Ray Rice, the face of domestic violence in the NFL after punching out his future wife in an Atlantic City hotel elevator last February, had his suspension lifted by an arbitrator Thanksgiving weekend but nobody signed him for the last month of the 2014 season and he remains unsigned.
So, what conclusions can be drawn from the three cases?
If you can play, they will want you.
Hardy is just 26 years old and had 15 sacks in 2013. He played just one game last year after the Panthers deactivated him one game and then he was placed on the exempt list. Peterson, who turned 30 on Saturday, was considered the best running back in the NFL until, like Hardy, he played just one game last year before he was deactivated for one game, then placed on the exempt list and then suspended in mid-November. Peterson recently met in Texas with coach Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman and then in New York with Spielman and Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf. The Vikings say they want Peterson back, but Peterson feels some in the organization were not supportive of him last season.
Why should they support him? He beat up his kid.
Rice is 28 years old and was considered a declining player even before his legal issues. He averaged 3.1 yards per carry in 2013 and didn’t play at all last year. The NFL has also devalued running backs.
This is a country of second chances and the NFL is a league of second chances, but only for players who can still be productive and, especially with Hardy, when they play a premium position.
Even so, the biggest hypocrite in all this is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Here’s what Jones said when Rice’s elevator video came out last Sept. 8 and Roger Goodell suspended him indefinitely after initially giving him just a two-game suspension:
“There’s no question in my mind the emphasis that we have on spousal abuse in the NFL and the lack of tolerance for it. It’s intolerable and it will be adjudicated accordingly.”
Here’s what Jones said last week after signing Hardy:
“We have spent a great deal of time over the last two days in meeting with Greg directly and gaining a solid understanding of what he is all about as a person and as a football player. A thorough background review of him, involving many elements of our organization, has been ongoing for the last few weeks. Obviously a great deal of our study was dedicated to the issue of domestic violence, and the recent events that associated Greg with that issue.”
How ridiculous is that?
Jones may twist issues to fit his agenda, but he is not stupid. Hardy’s base salary is just $745,000. Jones will then pay him $578,437 per game. Hardy, including incentives, can make over $13 million, but he must be on the field and produce. Hardy had been found guilty by a judge last July, but he exercised his right to a jury trial. That trial never happened after his former girlfriend made herself unavailable to testify after Hardy reportedly paid her off. The case was dismissed.
LASTING IMPACT
The story about 49ers linebacker Chris Borland retiring after just one season certainly will have a trickle-down effect that could hurt the NFL’s next generation, with parents worrying about the safety of the game for their kids. Football is a violent collision sport and players need to be educated about the risks, short-and-long term, but it is interesting the first concussion Borland suffered was playing soccer. … Elias Sports Bureau reports that 132 players with at least 10 seasons of experience played in at least on game in 2014. … The Colts’ proposal that will be made at the league meetings in Phoenix this week for the nine-point touchdown is just for the 2015 preseason. It’s not for the regular season. I like it for the preseason because it reduces the chance of these awful games going into overtime. Six points for a TD, then a successful two-point conversation would give the team a chance for one more point by kicking a 50-yard field goal. … After signing Torrey Smith to go with Anquan Boldin, the 49ers now have the Ravens’ starting receivers from their Super Bowl XLVII loss to Baltimore. The Niners, by the way, are pretty much unrecognizable.
