NFL Rumors: Why Peyton Manning Trade Would Benefit Both Jets and Colts

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the Jets organization appears to be disappointed and may trade Mark Sanchez:

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The consensus among players who spoke to the Daily News was that, at the very least, the Jets must sign a legitimate veteran backup to push their young quarterback.

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Manish continued in quoting the unnamed sources:

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“So many games, he [Mark Sanchez] looked defeated before he ever took the field,” a team source said. “He didn’t have much confidence in what he was about to go do. You could tell throughout the week in practice. He never felt comfortable with some of the things we were doing. It was too much for him.”

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That being said, Peyton Manning's name has come up and it's not surprising to say the least. According to Manish one team source is willing to go with it:

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“Come on. That’s a no-brainer,” a Jets source said. “If you have a chance to get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning and you don’t do it, then you’re stupid. If I could get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning, then, hell yeah, I would trade Sanchez.”

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So to that end, how would this kind of trade affect each organization? Well to say the least, it is beneficial and here's why for each.

New York Jets

Solely because it's Peyton Manning and he would drastically increase their passing game, thus helping setup the run.

Since drafting Mark Sanchez in 2009, the Jets quarterback has improved but not to the extent that Gang Green would have liked. This season Sanchez turned the ball over 26 times despite throwing a career high 26 TDs.

The problem however, was that the Jets had to rely on the passing game much more as they were down in the second half of most games. In turn, that affected the threat of a rushing attack as well as the defense.

With Manning, New York immediately becomes a passing team and with Plaxico Burress and tight end Dustin Keller, Peyton already has two reliable targets to connect with. Burress is the type of receiver that Manning's never had, as Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison were great but not fade route threats.

And being that Manning sat out all of 2011, that puts an extra year to his legendary career. Despite his age, the Jets could do a lot worse when looking elsewhere for another quarterback.

Indianapolis Colts

Yes, we can bash Mark Sanchez all we want about his regular season numbers and turnovers this year. What cynics tend to forget about Sanchez though is his 4-2 playoff record with nine TDs to three picks and two consecutive AFC title game appearances.

Regardless of what happened in the regular season, Sanchez has proven to be a solid playoff quarterback and the Jets' failures in 2011 were not all his fault.

The defense did struggle against the run and although their passing game wasn't threatening enough to setup the run, New York doesn't have a threatening running back either.

In Circle City, Sanchez would have a solid receiving corps and offensive line to rely on as well as a capable rushing attack. Also, since the Colts have the No. 1 overall pick and are likely to draft Andrew Luck regardless, that'll only make him better.

With the Jets, Sanchez's best competition to start was Kellen Clemens and the gray-bearded Mark Brunell. In other words, Luck will prove to be great competition and anyway you slice it, Sanchez will improve because of it.

Worst case-scenario for the Colts is that Luck starts and Sanchez is the backup. Then barring an unfortunate injury to Luck, Sanchez has the experience to keep Indy rolling along.

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