The Jets formally introduced their new general manager on Thursday.
John Idzik met the media for a press conference at the Jets headquarters in Florham Park and the exercise was as short on specifics as you'd likely imagine. Idzik talked big picture about increasing competition up and down the roster, but avoided questions about individual players by saying that it's premature to talk about anything until he's had a chance to evaluate the roster.
A fair and truthful answer, but it won't stop the questions from coming about cornerback Darrelle Revis. Multiple reports have Jets owner Woody Johnson interested in exploring options involving Revis, including the possibility of trading him before the 2013 season.
It's a perfectly reasonable thing for a team in the Jets' position to consider. Revis is coming off a torn ACL, has one year left on his deal and the Jets have a big need for a widespread talent infusion that won't cost them as much as re-signing Revis would cost them.
Thanks to a clause in his contract, Revis can't be franchised after the season so the Jets would need to sign him to a long-term deal before the year is out or risk losing him with no compensation in return. Based on that alone, there's plenty of reason to at least gauge what you could get in return for Revis.
Revis' skills don't need any recounting so it's not like re-signing him would be the worst thing to happen to the Jets. That said, it would be a big commitment to a player coming off a serious injury and there's no guarantee that Revis Island's exclusivity would remain in place throughout the life of the pact.
Swinging a deal that nets a first-round pick and another pick or player would help the Jets strengthen the rest of the roster while knowing that they can rely on Antonio Cromartie to play the lead cornerback role. Cromartie isn't as good as Revis, but he handled the job well enough and the chance to improve elsewhere is tempting.
You consider options and this is an option worth considering. It's not that easy, though. Is it ever easy with the Jets?
Dealing Revis is essentially a white flag on 2013 as trading your best player makes it crystal clear that you're doing a complete rebuild on the roster. That's not a bad thing, but why would you do that when you've just brought back Rex Ryan?
Ryan's reportedly against a Revis trade, which makes sense since punting on the season would all but guarantee him a pink slip at the end of the 2013 season. That's not good for Ryan, but it isn't good for the Jets either since you would basically be delaying the start of the new regime while also saying that the current one isn't the one to take you forward.
Time and again, the failure of the Jets to construct an overarching philosophy for the organization comes back to bite them in the rear. Hiring and firing general managers while keeping the head coach inevitably winds up muddying the picture when it comes to who calls the shots, something that doesn't work for a Jets team at a pretty crossroads.
Idzik said plenty of the right things on Thursday, but what the Jets say and what the Jets do are often birds of very different feathers.
Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.
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