Mark Sanchez: Finding the Silver Lining in New York Jets' Decision to Extend

The gut reaction to the New York Jets' decision to extend Mark Sanchez's contract is that they made a highly questionable call that will ultimately determine the long-term fate of all three men involved: Sanchez, head coach Rex Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum. 

The gut reaction, in this case, is the correct one.

But with so many reasons not to make such a move, not enough attention is paid to the reason why they would make such a move.

I'll defer to Rich Cimini of ESPN New York, who gives 11 good reasons to question the decision, but slips in a hidden caveat of an extension, one which we talked about here on the AFC East blog no more than a month ago.

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Not sure of Sanchez's new cap number for '12, but it's significantly less than the original $14.3 million. This will give them more flexibility in free agency. Tannenbaum said cap relief wasn't the purpose of the new deal, but he'll take it. 

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It was obvious Sanchez's contract would be the most helpful to restructure in terms of creating cap space, but for it to happen this way completely blindsided almost everyone. 

But the Jets do stand to benefit from this move in free agency. It doesn't put them in the market for a guy like Mario Williams, but it's better than nothing. 

The Jets have set the wheels in motion to make a few moves this offseason, so that's a positive. But you can't put enough spin on this to make up for Tannenbaum's backward thinking.

This is the same backward thinking:

• that had the Jets restructuring as many deals as possible to make as much salary cap space as possible to sign Nnamdi Asomugha, only to fail to do so;
• that, as a result of the previous backward thinking, has the Jets now stuck with $4.2 million of linebacker Bart Scott's salary;
• that had them put a "C" on Santonio Holmes' chest in hopes that he would become a team leader;
• that Tannenbaum showed weeks ago when he said right tackle Wayne Hunter was expected to be the starter—and now, just a couple weeks later, he's on the trading block;
• that had the Jets leaving the door open to "all options" at quarterback just weeks ago—and now, closing the door on all options not just this year, but for the next two years guaranteed.

And now, this is the kind of backward thinking that has the potential to set the organization back again, and this is the kind of backward thinking that could ultimately cost him his job.

We'll go back to Cimini:

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Sanchez had no guaranteed money remaining on his old contract, but you had to figure his $11.8 million for 2012 was safe. ...So, in essence, the Jets tossed in another $8.7 million in guarantees for '12 and '13. 

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The first question that comes to mind when reading that is: For what?

Let's think about this. They could have waited to extend him and keep him on for $11.8 million in 2012. The pressure would be on to prove himself, especially if the team acquires a backup that's good enough to compete for a starting job. Instead, they give Sanchez a new deal now that all but guarantees he'll be the starter Week 1.

Chad Henne may be looking for work, but is he even qualified for the job? David Garrard used to be a starter in the NFL, but he's been out of work for a year. Is there anyone else out there worth a glance?

And to that point, would anyone worth a glance even glance back?

As reported by Pro Football Talk, Sanchez is due $20.5 million guaranteed over the course of the next two seasons. That means that even if Sanchez isn't the starter, he'll still get paid like one.

In the short term—and by that, I mean a window that opens three days from now when free agency begins and ends when the Jets have signed all of their draft picks—the Jets can benefit, if only marginally, from the move.

Whether Tannenbaum or Rex Ryan are around to know what the future holds rides on the success of this decision.

Follow @ErikFrenz