The end of the road?
We all knew that the Justin Fields ride with the New York Jets would be a bumpy one.
That being said, did anybody expect it to be over by week eight of the season? I certainly did not.
While Fields’ benching has not been confirmed by head coach Aaron Glenn, the quotes from owner Woody Johnson certainly seem to indicate that the former Ohio State Buckeye will not be taking many more meaningful snaps in New York.
Speaking on Tuesday Johnson said of the Jets’ inept 0-7 start to the season: “It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got.
“If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.”
What started with a promising display against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 has quickly descended into farce.
The Jets offense has not scored a first half touchdown for what feels like 50 years. They have been unable to move the ball in significant fashion and Fields – despite having the longest time to throw in the NFL – has taken countless sacks and thrown for less than 100 yards across his last six quarters of football.
Combine these factors with Johnson’s verbal evisceration of Fields performances and it is hard to see how he bounces back from this.
Money, money, money
The other aspect of the Fields saga is the salary cap.
General Manager Darren Mougey gave the quarterback a two-year, $40 million deal with $30 million guaranteed.
Cutting Fields in the offseason would leave the Jets with $22 million in dead cap, combine that with the $35 million dead cap from Aaron Rodgers and things look very ugly financially.
So even if they pick a new franchise saviour quarterback in next years draft, the finances may not allow them to surround that rookie with the required weapons to succeed.
But that is talk for later in the season.
The Jets look set to roll forward with veteran back-up Tyrod Taylor for the remainder of the season, barring injury or disastrous play.
In reality that gives them a better chance to compete on a week-to-week basis, but this roster is still severely devoid of NFL level talent in several areas, so do not expect miracles.
