In a perfect world, Christian Hackenberg is a star, an against-all-odds plum plucked by Mike Maccagnan who ripened into the franchise quarterback the Jets so desperately craved.
Alas, this is the Jets world. The perpetually imperfect of Broadway Woe.
Maccagnan made this quarterback bed, made it by gambling that Hackenberg could be his lottery ticket two drafts ago.
So this is why Maccagnan is gearing up for a Armageddon with the Broncos and Vikings at the very least for Kirk Cousins.
The fact the Jets are so eager to wage this battle shows you the state of their desperation, closing in on 50 years after Broadway Joe’s Super Bowl.
That desperation comes at a time when Maccagnan and Todd Bowles are 20-28 together and have extended the Jets’ playoff drought to seven seasons.
This is their moment of truth.
Cousins isn’t The Next Namath, and no one should be under any illusions that he is or will be.
And he is no $30 Million Quarterback.
Cousins in green and white wouldn’t mean the Jets would immediately be ready to topple Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s stranglehold on the AFC East.
It is nevertheless easy to make the case that the Jets should be Kissing Cousins rather than Dissing Cousins.
It is easy to make the case they are less damned if they do than damned if they don’t.
It qualifies as the great debate between Buyer Beware and Go Get Him.
Go Get Him: Cousins is more of a sure thing than Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen, and do you trust Maccagnan to get it right this time with the sixth pick?
Buyer Beware: Cousins (26-30-1, 4-19 against winning teams, per ESPN) is not an elite quarterback who can carry a team to the playoffs on his shoulders.
Go Get Him: Cousins (81:36 TD:INT ratio from 2015-17) is the best quarterback on the market and won’t turn 30 until August.
Buyer Beware: There is no such thing as a sure thing in New York, as a Jet. Ask Neil O’Donnell.
Go Get Him: Cousins would give the Jets credibility and respectability and stability at the most important position on the field and in the locker room.
Buyer Beware: The Redskins preferred Alex Smith.
Conclusion: In the philosophical conflict between common sense and dollar cents, dollar cents rule in a league in which Jimmy Garoppolo lands a five-year, $137.5 million contract and the salary cap keeps mushrooming and if you don’t overpay, you could find yourself trotting out another journeyman quarterback and hoping the rookie you draft develops into your Quarterback of the Future.
When your Future Is Now, you overpay for what you consider a franchise quarterback.
Neither Maccagnan nor Bowles can afford to stake his future on the sixth pick of the draft.
The Jets can weather any five-year, $150 million salary-cap storm.
Broadway Kirk would allow Maccagnan to draft immediate starters with the sixth pick and one or both of his two second-rounders. And with the remainder of his $90 million or so available, he should be able, with Cousins as a recruiting tool, to add a couple of quality free agents.
If you need a so-called franchise quarterback, you go get one.
The Jets have needed a franchise quarterback since Maccagnan was in grade school.
If you have the money, you go spend it on one.
The Jets can’t afford not to go spend it on one.
If Blake Bortles has a chance to be the Jaguars’ $22 Million Man …
Kissing Cousins doesn’t guarantee a marriage made in heaven.
After too many years of Franchise Quarterback Hell, it would be borderline negligent for the Jets not to try to reel in the big fish in the free-agent quarterback pond.
Of course, because these are the Jets … death, taxes and Buyer Beware just the same.