Mike White‘s feel-good 2021 season lasted about five quarters. The fourth-year quarterback led the Jets to an upset of the Bengals in relief of the injured Zach Wilson in Week 8 and then played well in the early stages of the club’s Week 9 loss to the Colts before being forced out with an injury. But his four-interception showing against the Bills last week forced HC Robert Saleh to turn the reins over to veteran Joe Flacco for today’s game against the Dolphins.
The move still qualified as something of a surprise, as New York is not competing for a playoff spot and arguably should have tried to see if White could rebound from his poor outing. The good news for White, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says, is that he is still in the Jets’ plans and that the team will tender him as a restricted free agent this offseason.
Cimini recently said that was the expectation, though after the disappointing Bills game and with Wilson slated to return soon — Cimini adds that Wilson has a good chance to suit up for next week’s bout with the Texans — the Jets’ potential last look at White in game action in 2021 might have put his future with the team in jeopardy. It does not sound like that is the case, however, and Cimini writes that the Jets expect White to draw interest from other clubs, which could prompt Gang Green to hand him the second-round tender worth $3.9MM (the original-round tender checks in at $2.4MM).
In related news, the Jets’ top decision-makers are not alarmed by the team’s seven losses in nine games, a number of which have been blowouts. Aside from his election to start Flacco over White, Saleh has adhered to the plan of getting as much playing time for young contributors as possible, and as Cimini observes, the Jets are on pace to give 9,000 snaps to their first- and second-year players. Of the 19 teams to hit that threshold from 2017-19, 13 realized an increase in their win total the following season (with an average of 3.8 more victories).
Of course, GM Joe Douglas will need to nail the 2022 draft — in which he is slated to have nine picks — but the organization expects to return to competitiveness no later than 2023.
Douglas & Saleh are doing a great job finding and developing talent. I expect the next two years will see a lot more success.
Yeah Saleh is so good at developing talent that he benched White for Flacco. Smh
Yea the only thing I see is that they didn’t want to ruin his confidence and give him a shot to watch and learn from the sideline that week
They just benched a young QB that they plan to tender as an RFA in order to play a washed-up veteran who will not be there next year. They’re completely clueless. Dolphins are terrible, this would have been a perfect game to play White.
Nope- there are other players to develop and Flacco helps in that regard…..ie Elijah Moore today with big game. I hope the Jets can bluff their way into a high draft pick for White. Guy is limited
Flacco can help in practice and on the sidelines.
Agreed, need to be able to develop and evaluate the other 10 positions also. Extend drives to see what the defense does while fresh. Won’t hurt the young qbs to watch flacco prepare and play a few weeks either.
“Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things.” – Big Cat
As frustrating as it becomes losing every week, I am happy for the progress with the two Carters, AVT and Elijah. Yes, this year’s draft will be crucial, but we should set up with two top ten picks and a strong pair in the second round.
White not playing was obviously going to be questioned, but Flacco played well enough to win. The team a shot themselves in the foot with penalties more often than not.
We might not see the results this year. Too many key injuries. Too many different QBs. Inexperienced secondary that has trouble with angles and adjustments. The hope is that teams that have young players taking this many snaps historically perform much better the next year, by an average of 3.8 wins. I don’t believe this team is finishing 2-15, but a jump from 4-5 wins to 8-9 next year? If Wilson progresses, it’s certainly possible. Having White as a viable option should something go wrong? You could do worse.
Flacco is more of a players coach now. Never play him again.