Once upon a time, not long ago, the phone rang in the office of Jet’s general manager Joe Douglas, and a GM from another team might initiate a conversation something like this:
“Hey Joe, congratulations on the news concert. … Uh, I wonder if Sam Darnold might be available (nervous laugh). “
(Laugh) Click.
Fast forward to now:
“Hey Joe, we’re in the QB market, can we talk about Sam?”
We don’t have any untouchables on our team, not after a 2-14 season. We still love Sam, make no mistake about that, but go ahead, make me your best offer, and we’ll see where it goes is going. “
Sam Darnold, the potential savior of the Jets three short versions ago, is flipping these days, quitting his job and just waiting for Douglas to make his franchise-changing quarterback decision.
Douglas on Wednesday: “I’ll answer the call when it’s made.”
It means Darnold is in a different boat from three of his 2018 quarterback classmates. The bills won’t answer the call if it’s posted to 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 on Lamar Jackson. Darnold is in the boat with Josh Rosen.
“Our position on Sam hasn’t changed,” Douglas said.
Nice try, Joe.
Yes it has.
“He is an extremely talented player, he is very smart, very strong. … We have no doubt that Sam will achieve his excellent potential, ”said Douglas on Wednesday.
That’s GM speaking, of course, designed to inflate the value of his property to potential suitors. Because (wink, wink) that excellent potential can be achieved in a different uniform.
“Obviously, we’re in the business of getting as much information as we can in the run-up to the free service and design, but our stance on Sam hasn’t changed,” said Douglas.
Again, GM speak is designed to keep the poor kid hopeful that he can revive his career with the franchise that set him up.
The NFL can be such a cruel business. It wasn’t until 11 months ago, prior to the 2020 draft, when Douglas said:
“When I first met Sam’s parents in the first game of the preseason [August 2019], I promised them that I would do everything I could to take care of Sam with protection and playmakers. “
Unfortunately, even with the left tackle Mekhi Becton, Sam needed more protection, and even with injury-ridden wide receivers Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman, he needed more playmakers (and less Adam Gase), and here he is now:
Wondering if Douglas will use the second overalls pick on BYU’s Zach Wilson, or Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and reset the quarterback’s financial clock and trade Darnold.
Wondering if Douglas will enter the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes if the Texans were to fulfill caves and his trading desires and trade him.
Wondering if Douglas will trade second pick and build around him with his two first-rounders this year and six of the top 98 picks… not to mention a few first-rounders in 2022.
To Darnold, it must feel like a nerve-wracking game of musical quarterbacks, knowing he won’t be without a chair, but maybe not the one he prefers.
It seems like a lifetime ago that former GM Mike Maccagnan and his staff took Darnold to dinner in Morristown a week before the 2018 concept and left deflated because they were convinced the Browns would use first pick on him.
It seems like a lifetime ago when Coach Todd Bowles Darnold called the opening night launcher in Detroit and euphoric Jets fans called their “JETS, Jets, Jets, Jets!” chant behind the lion couch after the kid shook a pick-six from his first NFL pass and took a 48-17 win. And then he hugged his proud parents outside the visiting dressing room.
Finally the long-lost answer to Broadway Joe Namath.
Those headlines:
Sam’s club.
Samsational.
Samazing.
Sam the man.
Mononucleosis wouldn’t stop him.
Gase would become his quarterback whisperer.
Nobody thought he would see ghosts against Bill Belichick on national television.
No one thought he would regress in his third season (nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions, dizzying decision-making) and that his career TD-INT ratio would drop to 45-39, and his win-loss record drop to 13-25 .
Nothing gives hope to a fan base more than a young franchise quarterback.
Sam Darnold was the Golden Boy.
He has no idea if he still is.
Wilson’s Pro Day is March 26. Fields’ Pro Day is March 30. The Jets will both be in effect.
Douglas’s phone rings. The GM will answer the call.
And he should.
If Douglas has the same belief about Wilson or Fields that Maccagnan had about Darnold, he should recruit him.
Watson costs a boatload, but it’s worth it, and Douglas has plenty of towing capital and $ 80 million in caproom.
March Madness for Sam Darnold. And maybe even more.