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According to Sports Illustrated’s Colin Keane, ESPN’s Rich Cimini said the following on his podcast about the possibility of the Jets picking a QB at 7:
“They just spent $30 million guaranteed on Justin Fields … a rather large amount of money for a guy that got benched last year and a guy who a year ago only was worth a sixth-round pick. … I think the Jets are gonna give him a chance to win the long-term job.”
There is a good chance he’s right, but if the team’s new brass wants to turn things around, which they do, they must avoid confirmation bias.
If they want to take a flyer on Fields, who has great raw skills, and see if he can become their answer at quarterback, that is fine, but they can’t let the money impact the evaluation process.
Why they gave him $30 million guaranteed, based on his body of work, is unclear, but just because they did, doesn’t mean they should stick with him longer than necessary if he isn’t getting the job done.
That is no way to run a football team.
In fact, if veteran Tyrod Taylor outplays him in camp, maybe Taylor should be the starter in Week 1.
Good football operations don’t make starting lineup decisions based on the size of contracts.
That is not a winning formula.
So the largesse of the Fields contract should have no bearing on their decision making on who to start at the position.
Hey, if Jordan Travis looks better than Fields and Taylor, maybe you should start him.
To have a strong football culture, you need to run a meritocracy.
Look, as we sit here right now, I have no idea why they cut Aaron Rodgers and why they signed Fields to replace him.
The team’s brass was asked some questions about Rodgers (not enough), but nobody asked Glenn point-blank, “Why did you cut Rodgers?” The answers from Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey about Rodgers at the Combine provided little clarity, so based on their words, I can’t honestly tell you why they made the move.
And I’m not being critical of either man about not providing clarity. They don’t owe the press anything. They don’t answer to us.
I’m just saying I have no idea why they did it.
Just like I have no idea why they signed Fields, who has a 14-30 record as an NFL starter.
The brass has not been made available to the press since the start of free agency. We will find out a little more about why they signed Fields at the NFL Owner’s Meeting, which takes place Sunday- Tuesday in Palm Beach. Glenn will address the media there.
It will be interesting to see what Glenn says. It’s quite a pivot going from Rodgers to Fields – very different skill sets, to say the least.
JC will be in Palm Beach at the event, so we will keep you abreast of Jets Whispers coming out of this important once-a-year NFL event. A lot of news always comes out of this meeting.
But the bottom line is this – no matter how much they signed Fields for, it should have no bearing on who they play at quarterback.
That should strictly be based on the film (practice and game) and who gives them the best chance to win.
It is bad organizations that will keep starting players who aren’t getting the job done based on their salary.
And I’m not saying Fields won’t get the job done. That remains to be seen.
All I’m saying is that “confirmation bias” has been a problem in the past in Florham Park, and it needs to be in the rearview mirror moving forward.
March 28, 2025
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