Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Some reports during the week threw a possible curveball into the trade negotiations between the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for cornerback Darrelle Revis. That curveball was the rumored inclusion of Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.
We all heard this news and were somehow surprised. The Jets are trying to trade Mark Sanchez? Of course the Jets are trying to trade Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez is owed a little over $50 million over the next four years. His on-field play might be worth about an eight of that. Since 2009, Sanchez has never finished higher than 20th in Football Outsiders’ DYAR. That year was 2010, the only year Sanchez has every produced a positive DYAR — he was still negative on a per play basis posting a -4.3% DVOA.
So when a quarterback whose best season made him the 20th best quarterback in the league and that same quarterback is owed $50 million, it would be more surprising if his team wasn’t trying to trade him.
The Jets had nothing to lose by floating out the possible inclusion of Sanchez in a Revis trade.
Trades should be approached like a pretty girl at a bar. Go over and ask if you can buy her a drink. If she says no a). she has nothing in common with any girl I ever met in college and b). puts you in the exact same position if you didn’t ask at all, but at least you asked.
Just because the Jets are smart enough to try to throw in Sanchez to the trade doesn’t mean Tampa Bay is dumb enough to say yes. Just because a report says a Sanchez inclusion was discussed, doesn’t mean it was discussed seriously.
It’s possible Tampa Bay GM Mark Domink is still laughing at the suggestion.
We shouldn’t be surprised to hear Sanchez’s name come up in trade rumors. We should be surprised we haven’t heard more of them — especially with how many veteran quarterbacks have been moved this offseason.
Even if it’s not likely to happen, the Jets had to ask — they had nothing to lose.
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