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For one obvious reason, the Jets are a better fit for Mike McCarthy than the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
To me, this is clear as day.
All four teams have young quarterbacks – Darnold (Jets), Baker Mayfield (Cleveland), Josh Rosen (Arizona) and Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay). The owners in Tampa Bay love Winston like a family member, so he’s not going anywhere.
McCarthy got fired during the season by Green Bay, and one of the reported reasons was he butted heads with franchise QB Aaron Rodgers.
So for his next job, he needs to be married to a quarterback who isn’t a pain in the butt or a prima donna, if you will.
Darnold is the most coachable, the easiest to deal with, compared to the quarterbacks in Cleveland, Arizona and Tampa Bay.
Mayfield is a terrific player, but can be a pain in the butt. We all know that. He can be a bucking bronco, and let’s not forget he was arrested for public intoxication and fleeing/resisting arrest in February 2017, so he’s no angel.
One of the reason Rosen slipped in the draft was he wasn’t every coach’s cup of coffee. He can be hard to coach, and as draft guru Lance Zierlein wrote on NFL.com, “Scouts question his passion for football and whether he will be a willing student.”
Winston’s myriad legal issues, and inconsistent play, are well-documented.
If I’m McCarthy, and I had to chose between coaching Mayfield, Rosen, Winston or Darnold, I’d go with Darnold.
He’s eager, coachable, likable and down-to-earth.
There is no drama around this guy. He just wants to play ball and continue to get better.
After McCarthy dealt with all the Rodgers drama in Green Bay, don’t you think he could use the antithesis of that, and to me, Darnold would give him that.
“Mayfield is Rodgers and Darnold is Eli Manning,” said one long-time New York football writer.
Eli Manning is a no-drama QB who just works hard and goes about his business.
Ian Rapoport announced today that McCarthy is going to interview with the Jets.
Something else to consider regarding McCarthy and the Jets.
I know Christopher Johnson said they aren’t going to change their oft-criticized corporate structure where the GM, president and coach are all on equal footing and report to the owner.
However, a guy like McCarthy, who is in demand, would likely require final say on the roster.
The current set-up gives Mr. Coffee that final say.
If the Jets agree on money terms with McCarthy, but then he says I need control of the 53-man roster, you’re telling me they will tell him to take a hike?
I find that hard to believe.
What I think would happen is that they would give it him, but not tell the public, and they would tell the media that “we will make those decisions by consensus.”
If you give a guy like McCarthy final say, Maccagnan would still be the GM, you are just changing the guy who has the final say.
McCarthy is also from Pennsylvania, so getting back to this part of the country would also be a positive for him.
But to me, the biggest positive for McCarthy is the QB situation.
After the Rodgers stuff, do you think he wants to sign up for more QB drama and friction? Highly unlikely.
Darnold offers him a chance to avoid that.
January 1, 2018
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