The Geno Smith experiment isn’t working out quite as Rex Ryan had hoped. But that couldn’t mean Mark Sanchez is realistically in the mix to be back with the team next season. Could it?
Sanchez seems to think he could be back with the Jets again next season, according to Brian Coz of the New York Post, even though all speculation and salary cap sense would indicate otherwise.
Sanchez, who is out for the season after suffering a torn labrum in the preseason, said on Tuesday that he expects to be back with the Jets and that he doesn’t “want to go anywhere else,” per Seth Walder of the Daily News.
Sanchez, 27, spent his first four seasons with the Jets after being selected fifth overall in 2009. After leading the Jets to two consecutive AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010 and narrowly missing the playoffs in 2011, Sanchez was rewarded with a five-year, $58.5 million extension with the team. The guaranteed money in the contract has already been payed out, although he is making $8.25 million this season.
His $9 million base salary and $2 million 2014 roster bonus, combined with his poor performance on the field — 55 percent completion percentage, 68 touchdowns and 69 interceptions in his career — make it likely that the Jets would cut Sanchez during the offseason. Smith’s presence, even considering his struggles, and the fact that the team invested a second-round pick in him make it even less likely that Sanchez is viewed as the quarterback of the future in New York.
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