Sometime before or during his Peyton Across America March Madness Tour across America — starting in Denver, then on to Arizona and Miami, but not Florham Park, N.J. — Peyton Manning told the Jets thanks but no thanks, to the lure of New York, to sharing the greatest city in the world with his little brother, to embark on the gargantuan challenge of carrying a tortured franchise to its first championship in 43 years.
Pey Goodbye to The Improbable Dream.
And because the Jets future once and for all and once again will be placed in the hands of Mark Sanchez, the Jets moved swiftly to kiss and make up with their Sanchise. General manager Mike Tannenbaum announced via Friday-night conference call that Sanchez’s 2011 season wasn’t horrific enough for him not to rewarded with a three-year, $40.5 million contract extension.
JETS AGREE TO THREE-YEAR EXTENSION WITH SANCHEZ; OUT OF MANNING SWEEPSTAKES
That sound you just heard was Santonio Holmes ripping his hair out.
The Jets are no dummies, you see. They made this uncomfortable bed Sanchez has been sleeping in since Peyton Manning came free.
They know the overriding questions that now must be answered are these:
How will Sanchez survive the nuclear fallout?
Will Sanchez be able to trust Rex Ryan? Or will he feel a haunting sense of betrayal?
The Jets are certain to tell us — and him — this was a mere matter of performing their due diligence on a once-in-a generation quarterback, The Sanchise always was their man and kicking the tires on Peyton Manning doesn’t mean that anyone inside the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, not the owner, not the equipment manager, has abandoned the notion that he could win a championship.
Will Sanchez believe them?
Because he has every reason to believe that if Peyton Manning were seriously interested in the Jets, they would have opened the hood, checked the oil, and handed him the keys to a green-and-white Lamborghini once the tires were kicked.
Of course, the Jets’ preemptive strike last night was hardly mere coincidence.
But even before the Jets were forced to Pey Goodbye, a source familiar with Sanchez’s frame of mind said not to worry, Jets fans, because:
l Sanchez understands how the business of the NFL works, understands if Peyton Manning can get cut by the team that loved him for 14 years, anyone and everyone is expendable. He understands virtually any NFL team that doesn’t have Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback would be smitten with him, understands he hasn’t won a Super Bowl yet and hasn’t been in the Pro Bowl.
“I completely understand that this is a business,” he said,
l Sanchez’s relationship with Ryan, forged over the emotional roller coaster of the last three seasons, is strong enough to withstand this flirtation with Manning, that Sanchez will absolutely not feel burned or betrayed by his head coach.
“[The extension] gives the team just a reminder that I’m the leader of this team,” he said.
l If anything, the chip Sanchez has had on his shoulder, will be even bigger now. The fire that burns inside him to be better than he was a year ago and better than ever and good enough to win a championship in New York will be a five-alarmer.
It still wouldn’t hurt Ryan to engage in some damage control, because his silence before Pey Goodbye was deafening. His proclamation that he wanted Sanchez in the trenches with him “as long as I am here” seems like a distant memory.
Sanchez has enough problems getting along with Holmes, former Captain of the NFL Titanic. The last thing he needs is an inkling that Ryan’s belief in him has wavered, even after he is finished enduring the 2011 game tapes.
Ryan’s best tactic would be to call Sanchez to the facility for one of those ice cream socials and convince him any Peyton Pursuit was initiated and pushed by owner Woody Johnson and Tannenbaum. Their call, not his call. The Sanchise was never Plan B in his eyes, no sir.
Maybe it would work, maybe not. Maybe it wouldn’t matter.
Sanchez can’t waste a second wasting energy on why the powers-that-be were seduced by the Mr. America quarterback. He needs to be mentally tough, get off the deck and become the unquestioned leader of the team.
Pey Goodbye to the Mann. Say hello to The Manchise. Heaven help the Jets if he isn’t.