Last season, the New York Jets finally managed to put together what looked like a competent offense, and keeping that level of play up in 2016 will be key in ensuring the Jets have a shot at the playoffs. They’ve already done a great job with getting Matt Forte to replace Chris Ivory, and now they’ve got one more big signing to make with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

This back and forth between Fitzpatrick and the Jets is ridiculous, and they’d be smart to realize how badly they need each other and get a deal done.

All the Jets should do is look at what the Denver Broncos have been reduced to, trading for Mark Sanchez and his complete inability to handle pressure. Denver needlessly played around with Brock Osweiler, and they’re now screwed. The Jets have a lot of pieces in place to make a run, and the last thing they need is to start panicking over question marks like Colin Kaepernick or Robert Griffin III.

Fitzpatrick is a smart guy. Deep down, away from the media, he has to know he’s basically useless without Chan Gailey. He plays extremely well with the Jets OC, and even scored himself a big contract in Buffalo with Gailey at the helm. He plays smart football, doesn’t turn the ball over, and does well enough to keep his team in the game.

When he’s without Gailey, well, he bounces around the league and eventually winds up signing with Gailey’s team anyway.

I get it. Fitzpatrick wants one last big contract and has some leverage to pull that off. On the other hand, the Jets know Gailey makes or breaks him, so of course they’re going to use that to try and undercut Fitzpatrick. It’s the dance players and franchises go through all the time.

But enough is enough already. The Jets certainly don’t want to have to scramble to find a starting quarterback, and they certainly don’t seem to want to start Geno Smith. Fitzpatrick must know the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence, and he’ll never replicate his successes with Gailey with anyone else. He’s a backup outside of New York.

They can fight all they want, but at the end of the day, the Jets and Fitzpatrick both need each other and it’s about time they finally acted like it. Otherwise, they’re both worse off and nobody wins. They might as well win together.