There's No Doubt Mark Sanchez Caused Mike Tannenbaum's Firing

Former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said something interesting on Valentine’s Day regarding his recent firing. Tannenbaum said that the fact he signed Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez to a hefty extension was the primary reason he got the boot. Folks, we have a genius on our hands. Tannenbaum’s new nickname is “Captain Obvious.”

Why in the world Tannenbaum even considered signing Sanchez to a five-year, $58.5 million deal after the 2011 season is beyond bizarre. It’s like Tannenbaum had never seen Sanchez play or looked at his stats. New York was coming of an 8-8 season in which Sanchez threw for career highs in yardage (3,474), touchdowns (26) and interceptions (18). He completed only 56 percent of his passes and recorded a passer rating of 78. Does that sounds like a signal-caller who deserved over $10 million per year?

If that wasn’t enough to get Tannenbaum run out of town, bringing in Tim Tebow was the icing on the cake. The Jets were already a train wreck and Tebow just made them into a circus.

It’s easy to see how anyone in or around the Jets’ organization could get excited after back-to-back AFC title game appearances in Sanchez’s first two seasons, but even a novice could see that Sanchez wasn’t the reason for that success. The Jets had a dynamite running game and defense, but all of that went down the drain after Thomas Jones left and New York started leaning on Shonn Greene.

Still, Tannenbaum did nothing about it and then the Jets suffered through a 6-10 season in 2012 and now he’s looking for work. All of these factors played into it, but the fact he extended the contract of a quarterback who went on to turn the ball over 26 times the next season was definitely the heart of the problem. Oh well, at least Tannenbaum knows why he was fired. However, the Jets are going to be the laughing stock of the league for a while yet.

Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google