Amid rumors and reports that the Jets will pursue quarterback Mike Vick if/when (when) he’s cut by the Eagles, it was understandable that coach Rex Ryan would be asked about the situation by the media.
Even though the tampering rules prevent him from commenting."I think I’ll focus on the players we have on this roster instead of somebody else’s players,” Ryan said in response, wisely.
But Rex was a little looser with his comments when discussing (lamenting) the fact that the Jets don’t have a franchise quarterback.
"[I] realize that every team is not going to have Tom Brady,” Ryan said. “I’ll be honest with you, if we had Tom Brady, I’d be happy with that. We don’t, but there are only maybe one or two other guys that would be in that [group], whether it’s New Orleans [quarterback Drew Brees] or Peyton Manning.”
Though any public comment expressing interest in a player under contract with another team technically runs afoul of the plain language of the tampering policy, it’s unlikely that the league will do anything about it -- primarily because the league rarely ever does anything about it. Except in the most egregious of cases.
Bottom line? Brady, Brees, and Manning will never play for the Jets. But the one guy Ryan wouldn’t mention is the one who is the most likely to be the team’s next big-name, ticket-selling, attention-generating, false-hope-creating signal-caller.