With Peyton Manning on the market and the Jets seemingly an elite quarterback away from a trip to the Super Bowl, there has been speculation that Rex Ryan and company will make a run at the four-time MVP. Ryan has been adamant about the fact that Mark Sanchez will be the starting quarterback as long as he’s in New York, but if there’s anyone who could make him go back on that it’s Manning. LaDainian Tomlinson believes that if that happened Sanchez would want out.
“In my opinion, I don’t know if he would handle it well,” Tomlinson said Wednesday during an NFL Network appearance. “I think he would probably go in and maybe ask to be released because here is Mark Sanchez’s gripe: ‘I took you guys to two straight AFC Championship Games; yeah I didn’t get it done last year, but my first and second year I took you to two AFC Championship Games. How can you turn around and just bring in another quarterback right now?’
“Rightfully so, he would be a little mad. That’s all a part of it. But at the same time, if he could grow up a little bit and try to learn from somebody like Peyton Manning, then maybe in a couple of years — two or three years — if they did decide to go with Peyton Manning, he could learn from that and then also be the quarterback again.”
I don’t know if Sanchez would ask for his release, but he certainly wouldn’t be happy. Regardless of how he has played, he has led the Jets to two AFC Championships and never been anything but a starter in the NFL. Tomlinson is right that he could learn from Manning, but that is far easier to do as a rookie or reserve. It would be extremely tough for Sanchez to ride the bench after he has become so accustomed to starting. Fortunately for him, everyone seems to believe Peyton would never risk stepping on Eli’s toes by playing in the same city.
