New York Jets: Mike Maccagnan should put Teddy Bridgewater up for trade
By Alex Jordan
Teddy Bridgewater is fighting to be the New York Jets starting quarterback. General manager Mike Maccagnan wants to trade him and have Sam Darnold start.
The New York Jets have three quarterbacks competing for the quarterback job. General manager Mike Maccagnan offered his take on the competition on Monday and basically admitted that he’s open to trading Teddy Bridgewater.
In an interview with WFAN, Maccagnan praised rookie Sam Darnold, who is competing with Bridgewater and Josh McCown for the quarterback job. Maccagnan said that he’s been very impressed by Darnold and called him “unflappable.”
Here’s what Maccagnan said of Darnold, per Andy Vasquez of the North Jersey Record:
"“Of all the young quarterbacks I’ve been around, I’ve been exceptionally impressed by Sam. Sam probably is at the top of that list.”"
He added:
"“Every day he goes out there, he gets a little better. He literally just turned 21. He’s a very young person. But it’s all the stuff we knew about him coming out of college. All the stuff people thought bout him there. His personality, his work ethic, the way he handles pressure. … That’s the thing that’s probably impressed me the most about the kid. He’s been really sort of unflappable. “"
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Now Maccagnan doesn’t have the final say to who will get the starting job, but it clear that he wants Darnold to be the Jets starting quarterback. I think that Darnold should be the starting quarterback. He has been impressive so far and is the future quarterback of the Jets so why not make him the starter?
In addition to praising Darnold, Maccagnan pretty much admitted that he’s open to trading Bridgewater.
"“There’s nothing to stop us from keeping three [quarterbacks], and there’s nothing to stop us from keeping two,”"
If Darnold gets the starting job, then I think trading Bridgewater will be something that the Jets will look at seriously. While Bridgewater has been good, he has completed 17 of 23 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in two preseason games, I think McCown is the better option to be Darnold’s backup.
While McCown has played just one series in the Jets two preseason games, he has looked good in practice. He also had one of if not the best season of his career last year, throwing for career-high 2,926 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also had a quarterback rating of 94.5, which is his second-best quarterback rating.
Another reason why McCown should be the backup and not Bridgewater is that McCown is a winner and a leader. He is the leader of Gang Green and can win games. If Darnold were to get hurt, then McCown could step in and help the Jets win games.
Both McCown and Bridgewater have one-year contracts. Bridgewater has more trade value than McCown, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. Trading Bridgewater makes the most sense because he’ would give a team more value than McCown.Teams want to get their money’s worth when they make a trade and a team that gets Bridgewater in a trade would be getting their money’s worth.
A team wouldn’t be getting their money’s worth if they get McCown in a trade because he isn’t worth that much.
However New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur thinks that the Jets should give Bridgewater a chance and not trade him. On Sunday he told reporters, via Herbie Teope of NFL.com:
"“I’m thrilled for whatever success he’s having.I did peek at their game and it appears to me like he’s playing pretty well, and the only thing I would say is don’t sleep on Teddy because I think he’s got it in him.”"
Next. Bridgewater should not quarterback the Jets. dark
While Shurmur wants Bridgewater to stay, the Jets have had potential trade discussions with teams that are interested in Bridgewater. The New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins are two of the teams that are interested in Bridgewater, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
Darnold is the future quarterback of the Jets and if Maccagnan gets his way then Bridgewater won’t be with the Jets for much longer.