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Rex Ryan, the head coach of the Buffalo Bills who has a penchant for conveying his bold opinions to the media, has struck once again. This time, Ryan’s comments come about one of the players on his former team, the New York Jets. Ryan stated that he does not want the Jets to re-sign quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and hopes that the veteran quarterback goes elsewhere. Ryan’s comments are absolutely justifiable, because losing Fitzpatrick would likely send the Jets into a downward spiral until they can land a franchise quarterback.
It is no secret that the Jets have not been able to find a capable franchise quarterback over the last couple of decades. The team has attempted to draft young players in hopes of making them the next great stars, like Chad Pennington and Mark Sanchez, or bringing in established veterans (Brett Favre) to try and bring the team to the next level. The Jets have largely failed in their bids, and their only playoff success came as a result of the strong defenses Ryan built during his time with the team.
However, last season the team realized that they had something special with Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick had the best season of his career after being reunited with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, a former head coach in Buffalo, and he was able to lead the Jets to a surprising winning season. Fitzpatrick was due for a pay raise, but given his failures outside of Gailey’s system, the Jets were rightfully reluctant to give him any sort of lucrative contract. Still, the team should be prioritizing re-signing him at this point, or they will risk entering the year with Geno Smith as the starter which will not end well.
However, Smith starting would be excellent news for the Bills, who play the Jets twice a season. The Bills were able to go 2-0 against the Jets last year, but they would have an even better chance of repeating their success if Smith was the quarterback. After all, Smith struggles to read defenses and Ryan’s superior defensive mind and his excellent secondary will allow him to confuse Smith and ultimately give the Bills a better chance to win. It would be a lot less risky than facing off against a rejuvenated Fitzpatrick twice, as he may eventually figure out how to beat Ryan’s defense.
Of course, it still seems likely that the Jets will be the team to re-sign Fitzpatrick. The fact is that good quarterbacks do not stay on the open market for so long unless there is an issue with them. For Fitzpatrick, it may be that he is asking for too much, and teams will not want to pay him because of his struggles outside of Gailey’s system. Maybe the Denver Broncos will be desperate enough to pay him, but at this point it seems unlikely.
When it is all said and done, I feel like the Jets will ultimately agree to terms with Fitzpatrick at some point in the future, but coach Ryan can still hope that this fails to come to fruition. It would certainly make winning a little bit easier for the Bills.
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