With a volatile quarterback room and a looming supplemental draft, the New York Jets face a divide between front-office skepticism and ownership’s hunger for a high-stakes talent gamble on Brendan Sorsby.
The New York Jets enter the summer with an unenviable situation at quarterback.
Veteran quarterback Geno Smith is set to be the starter for the Jets in Week 1. Despite having solid production during his final three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, the 35-year-old quarterback flamed out with the Las Vegas Raiders last year.
The Jets took Cade Klubnik out of Clemson in the fourth round. The rookie, who struggled during his final season with the Tigers, was sidelined during mandatory minicamp due to back soreness, which isn't good for his development before training camp.
There has been chatter that New York would be one of the higher bidders in the supplemental draft this summer for former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who decided to end his college career amid a gambling controversy.
Per Rich Cimini of ESPN, a person "close" to the Jets said about Sorsby, 'they don't want to deal with it.'"
It's unclear if the league intends to suspend Sorsby during the upcoming season. Had he decided to return to Texas Tech, he would have been suspended for the first two games of the season and Red Raiders head Coach Joey McGuire suggested he could miss more games during the season while he recovers from a gambling addiction.
There is a possibility Jets general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn are skeptical about adding Sorsby.
However, last week, Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom spoke to an NFL executive who thought owner Woody Johnson might be interested in adding Sorsby.
“I could see the Jets doing it,” the exec said. “We know that Woody (Jets owner Woody Johnson) loves this stuff. He loves the attention.”
So what can be made of the conflicting reports on the Jets and Sorsby?
For one, the weeks that lead up to the annual league draft in April are called "lying season" for a reason. With a quarterback who is considered first-round talent set to enter the supplemental draft, there is going to be a lot of lying when it comes to Sorsby.
Sorsby is considered a first or second round talent by most around the league. There will be teams who have a serious interest in adding Sorsby and want lower bids placed, and others who would like a team to bid higher than they should for the 22-year-old signal-caller.
