Once upon a time, and not long ago, the phone rang in the office of Jets general manager Joe Douglas, and a general manager of another team could start a conversation that would look something like this:
“Hey Joe, congratulations on the news concert. … Uh, I wonder if Sam Darnold might be available (nervous laughter). ”
(Laughs) Click.
Forward so far:
“Hey Joe, we’re in the QB market, can we talk about Sam?”
“Of course it is possible! We are not untouched in our team, not after a 2-14 season. We still love Sam, let’s not be wrong about that, but go ahead, make me the best offer and we’ll see where he goes. “
Sam Darnold, the future savior of the Jets three short projects ago, is turning upside down these days, resigning and reduced to waiting for Douglas to make a decision to change the franchise on the decision of the defender.
Douglas on Wednesday: “I’ll answer the call if it’s done.”
It means Darnold is in a different boat from three of his 2018 quarterback colleagues. The bills won’t answer the call if they’re made on Josh Allen. Browns will not answer the call if it is made on 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 has not changed,” Douglas said.
Good try, Joe.
Yes Yes.
“He is an extremely talented player, he is very intelligent, very tough. … We have no doubt that Sam will reach his remarkable potential, “Douglas said on Wednesday.
Of course, this is GM, designed to inflate the value of its assets for claimants. Because (with the eye, with the eye) that remarkable potential can be achieved in a different uniform.
“Obviously we are in the process of getting as much information as we can through free agency and project, but our position on Sam has not changed,” Douglas said.
Again, GM talk was designed to keep the child poor in the hope that he can resurrect his career with the franchise that created him.
The NFL can be such a cruel business. Just 11 months ago, before the 2020 project, when Douglas said:
“When I first met Sam’s parents in the first pre-season game [August 2019]I promised them that I would do my best to take care of Sam with protection and players. ”
Unfortunately, even with left-back striker Mekhi Becton, Sam needed more protection and even with the wide receivers devastated by injuries, Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman, he needed more players (and less Adam Gase). and here it is:
Wondering if Douglas will use the second general option for BYU’s Zach Wilson or Ohio Field’s Justin Fields and reset the quarterback’s financial clock and trade Darnold.
Wondering if Douglas will enter the Deshaun Watson lottery if Texan cavemen entertain their business desires and change it.
Wondering if Douglas will change from the second pick and build around him with the two first-rounders this year and six of the first 98 picks … not to mention a pair of first-rounders in 2022 .
For Darnold, it must feel like a nervous game of musical defenders knowing only that he will not be left without a chair, but maybe not the chair he prefers.
It appears that a lifetime ago, former GM Mike Maccagnan and his staff took Darnold to dinner in Morristown a week before the 2018 draft and left deflated because they were convinced the Browns would use the first general election. for him.
It seems like a lifetime ago when then-coach Todd Bowles called Darnold the start of the opening night in Detroit and the euphoric Jets fans started “JETS, Jets, Jets, Jets!” sang behind the Lions bench after the kid shook a pick-six in his first NFL pass and got a 48-17 victory. And then he hugged his proud parents in front of the locker room.
Finally, the long-lost answer on Broadway Joe Namath.
These titles:
Sam’s club.
Samsational.
Amazing.
Sam Omul.
Mononucleosis would not stop him.
Gase would be his defensive whisper.
No one imagined he would see ghosts on national television against Bill Belichick.
No one has imagined that he will regress in his third season (nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions, decision-making in front of his head) and will see that his career TD-INT ratio will drop to 45- 39, and his win-loss record will drop to 13 25.
Nothing gives a fan base more hope than a young franchise defender.
Sam Darnold was the Golden Boy.
He has no idea if he is.
Wilson’s Pro Day is March 26th. Pro Fields Day is March 30th. The planes will both be in effect.
Douglas’s phone will ring. GM will answer the call.
It should be just as good.
If Douglas has the same belief in Wilson or Fields that Maccagnan had over Darnold, he should recruit him.
Watson will cost a lot of boats, but it’s worth it, and Douglas has enough capital and $ 80 million in room.
The March Madness for Sam Darnold. And maybe beyond.