Keidel: Jets Would Be More Nuts Than Usual To Even Consider Romo
By Jason Keidel
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Only in the Wizard-of-Oz world of the Jets would we so often consider the absurd.
Like Tony Romo playing at MetLife Stadium.
It feels like there should be a stop along the Yellow Brick Road called Gang Green.
Though the Jets haven't intimated anything, the rumor mill is churning away. And considering they have gone down this road before, with Brett Favre in 2008, let's suppose for a minute they are thinking about acquiring Romo.
Only the Jets, who can't develop a young, healthy quarterback, would consider adding an old and decaying quarterback. The veteran signal-caller's bones are so brittle that the last three hits he has taken have landed him on a doctor's table. Whether it has been his clavicle or his back, Romo has had his mail forwarded to surgery of late.
Only the Jets, who are trying to get younger after the Ryan Fitzpatrick disaster, would kick that movement in the teeth by reeling in Romo. Not only does Romo turn 37 in seven weeks, but he's got back problems. Ask anyone with a balky back whether it gets better with age.
Granted, this potential move would at least have the old scent of success. Romo would automatically be the Jets' most talented and accomplished passer since Favre, who took the title that previously belonged to Vinny Testaverde for a season before it was owned by Joe Namath back when the Earth cooled. But let's get real for a second. The Jets are who they are because with the exception of Namath they've never had the QB they've needed for more than the occasional season.
Just so Cowboys fans, perhaps the most pampered and delusional fans this side of Yankee Stadium, don't see this as a hatchet job on their beloved QB, Romo is a good quarterback. Frankly, you could argue he's a great quarterback. What some could also argue is that he's the most underrated quarterback of the last decade. He has been a victim of some bad luck and a maniacal owner who refuses to hire a general manager.
Word is that Romo is not only a fine player, but an even better dude. He's humble and accessible, a regular guy to the core, despite his bulging bankroll and Miss Universe wife. When was the last time you heard anyone speak poorly of Romo? Even Terrell Owens, who finds flaws in everyone, famously cried over Romo after a lost playoff game.
Romo did nothing wrong. He got hurt, then morphed into Wally Pip, as Dak Prescott assumed the gridiron role of Lou Gehrig. So now Romo is a man without a football home.
But the Jets, who don't have any decent history with quarterbacks, should not be his next team. If the Cowboys, who have by any objective or subjective measure the best offensive line in football, couldn't keep Romo upright, how would the Jets? Let's not forget they have released half their line over the last few days.
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Jets fans would break the internet buying Romo jerseys, drooling with anticipation as he tossed spirals on some summer field. Assuming Romo makes it through the preseason -- remember, he got hurt before September in 2016 -- fans would wince at the first real shot he took, one eye open as he peeled himself from the turf. Then would come the tepid applause as Romo is wheeled off the field, fans poking their iPhones for an injury update.
No one with a modicum of football knowledge would demand this, but even Jay Cutler makes more sense for the Jets. The brooding, beleaguered QB for the Chicago Bears has a howitzer for a throwing arm, is younger than Romo, and doesn't have the back of a 70-year-old. Yet you don't hear Jets fans clamoring for Cutler. That's because, for all his physical splendor, Cutler couldn't get his team to run through a wet paper bag for him.
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Unless the Jets feel that A.J. McCarron, Mike Glennon, or some other pseudo-established quarterback, is a future star, there's only one way to grab and groom an NFL quarterback, and that's in the draft.
The fact that the Jets have spent the better part of 40 years failing QB development is not your problem. Nor is Tony Romo the solution.
Please follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
