The Jets Have Decided To Push Mark Sanchez By Signing... Drew Stanton?

Remember back in January when an anonymous Jet said of Mark Sanchez, "We have to bring in another quarterback that will make him work at practice. He's lazy and content because he knows he's not going to be benched," and all Jets fans (and management) nodded and agreed that finding such a quarterback would be the team's offseason priority?

Folks, the Jets found that quarterback. He has five career touchdowns and nine career interceptions. He was the Lions' third-stringer last year. He is Drew Stanton.

Cue one of the most depressing block quotes in recent Jets history, from ESPN New York's Rich Cimini:

Initially, the Jets had hoped to lure former Miami Dolphins starter Chad Henne and reunite him with ex-Dolphins coach and new Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano. But it quickly became apparent that Henne was out of their price range. He signed Wednesday with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jets' renewed commitment to Sanchez may have scared away potential candidates. With the Jets paying Sanchez $20.5 million in guarantees over the next two seasons, it was clear the No. 2 quarterback would have no realistic chance to compete for the starting job.

But that was fine by Stanton, the Lions' third-stringer last season behind Matthew Stafford and Shaun Hill, who is also a free agent.

We'll get to the second paragraph in a second. The first and third are pretty rough. "Hoped to lure Chad Henne" is a descriptor intended only for women with lower-back tattoos. "Henne was out of their price range" is a phrase typically reserved for Ann Arbor's worst bar mitzvahs. And "Lions' third-stringer," well, that's just explicit.

As for the Jets' "renewed commitment to Sanchez," I'd be careful about going that far. As Mike Florio explained, Sanchez's extension provided him only $2.75 million in new money, while the Jets got $6 million in new cap space. And the Jets can ditch Sanchez without penalty after the 2013 season. There's very little renewed commitment that comes from the contract.

The "renewed commitment" in question arose only when the Jets signed Drew Stanton. Stanton is a big-armed scrambler, the wrong guy for the conservative, run-based offense Rex Ryan wants. Plus, he doesn't have much experience. Henne has started more games in his career. So has Kyle Orton. Even Brady Quinn has. (All were on the market.) It doesn't seem that Stanton, who doesn't even have a rookie season's worth of starts in his career, will push Mark Sanchez, who, at his worst, plays like a rookie.

Then again, maybe positive yardage alone, which Stanton can deliver, would be an improvement.

Jets add Drew Stanton [ESPN New York]