Steve Serby

Steve Serby

NFL

Michael Vick would be more distraction than solution for Jets

There was a time, before Bad Newz Kennels, before the 19-month incarceration in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., before he began to try to rehabilitate his image, when the thought of Michael Vick quarterbacking the Jets and tormenting defenses and electrifying MetLife Stadium would have had Rex Ryan barking up a storm again.

That time has passed.

As free agency nears, Vick needs a team and the Jets need a quarterback, if not a starting quarterback.

But they don’t need this quarterback.

Not anymore. Not now.

Not at a juncture in Jets history when general manager John Idzik a year ago ordered the circus to pick up and leave town.

This isn’t about Vick’s sordid history with pit bulls, or the specter of animal rights protesters seeing the market as a target of opportunity.

This is about Michael Vick the football player, and the New York Jets the football team.

A Bad Newz marriage.

There is no question the Jets need to have a Plan B in place should Geno Smith buttfumble his way out of the starting job.

Josh McCown should be that Plan B.

McCown was so good when he filled in for Jay Cutler at the end of last season there were Bears fans who wanted him to remain the starter.

The 34-year-old McCown could push Smith, and maintain the perfect temperament to be the backup at the same time. He would be the perfect insurance policy.

Vick, 34 in June, still has his eyes on a starting job.

Let him be somebody else’s bridge quarterback. Because when the Jets build bridges, you can expect them to be over troubled waters.

If there is one thing we have learned about the Jets, it is this: they are clueless when it comes to handling the quarterback position and burgeoning quarterback controversies.

The last thing they would need is another media obsession chronicling the daily quarterback ratings for Smith and Vick.

Ask Mark Sanchez how much he enjoyed that distraction with Tim Tebow two summers ago, when ESPN was every bit the presence that “Hard Knocks” and HBO were in the good old days.

If you think you have two No. 1 quarterbacks, more than likely you really don’t have any.

It doesn’t mean they hand Smith the job the way they did when they entitled Sanchez, now that competition through and through is the Idzik mantra.

If they still are holding out hope Smith has a chance to be the guy, then it would behoove the Jets to give him every chance to succeed in 2014 with a better supporting cast (WR Marqise Lee)?

Of course, the jury is very much out on Smith, and unfortunately, the Jets won’t be able to trade way up for Johnny Manziel. And mercifully for all concerned, Sanchez will soon be gone.

If the Jets make a play for Vick, that would tell you all you need to know about how they feel about Smith.

It would tell you Ryan, contract extension notwithstanding, is alarmingly desperate to make the playoffs after three straight years of missing them.

Then there is this Kotite’s Law scenario: Vick wins the job, Smith loses his mind and confidence, and Vick, who can no longer be depended upon to stay on the field, or knocked to the sidelines, or return quickly.

And the Jets are left without a starting quarterback.

Or this: Ryan summons him for the garbage time finish to try to win the prestigious Snoopy Bowl, and, well, you know how that story would end.

The Vick-to-the-Jets groundswell has plenty to do with the fact Marty Mornhinweg was his offensive coordinator Philadelphia.

Vick’s quarterback rating since 2009 is a respectable 87.9. But he is no longer the lethal weapon who captured imaginations with his left arm and dancing legs. It wasn’t Vick who led Chip Kelly and the Eagles to the playoffs last season, it was Nick Foles.

From the time he joined the Eagles in 2009, Vick missed 19 games with a potpourri of injuries. He hasn’t played an entire season since 2006. He can still be dangerous, yes, but he can break your heart the next second with an ill-advised dagger interception or fumble — the very same Achilles’ heel Smith is trying to rehab.

Adrian Peterson, his prime years wasting away at a quarterback graveyard, began a Twitter campaign to bring Vick to Minnesota. The Bills, Jaguars and Raiders may have interest in Vick. The Jets shouldn’t bite.