If the New York Jets wind up on the clock with the sixth overall pick in the first-round of the 2015 NFL Draft come April and former Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is still available, myriad tantalizing scenarios could potentially unfold.
The Jets, who have struggled to find an answer at the game's most important position and thus were recently forced to send a seventh-round pick to the Texans in exchange for veteran safety net, Ryan Fitzpatrick, could simply take Mariota and call it a day.
Or, they could entertain offers from the plethora of teams below them in the draft, no doubt aching to select Mariota and install him as the future face of their franchise.
"San Diego has a private workout planned for Mariota," writes Gary Myers of the NY Daily News. "He has already worked out for the Titans (second overall pick) and will work out for the Bucs (first pick) and Jets. The Chargers are way down at No. 17, which means if they plan to draft Mariota, the spread-offense QB from Oregon, they will have to trade up to get him."
The Bucs are rumored to have settled on Jameis Winston with the first overall selection next month - though that is, of course, subject to change and potentially inaccurate altogether - and the Titans are both said to be high on the potential of last year's sixth round pick, Zach Mettenberger, and unsure of Mariota as a fit in head coach Ken Whisenhunt's offense.
Teams like the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints, selecting at 17th and 13th, respectively, wouldn't seem to have a dire need at the position but could be looking to turn the page on their already established signal-callers, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees.
What if, as Myers surmises, the Chargers or Saints come calling with an offer for the sixth overall pick that includes either Rivers or Brees?
What do new Jets head coach Todd Bowles and GM Mike Maccagnan do then?
"If the Jets are presented with a choice of Brees or Rivers for the No. 6 pick, here's what I would do: Trade for Rivers. He's three years younger. Rivers and Brady are the two most competitive quarterbacks in the league and Rivers would give the Jets a huge personality," writes Myers.
Of course, the Chargers simply holding a workout for Mariota doesn't really mean anything other than that the organization is doing its due diligence, but that being said, Rivers is 33, dealt with - and played through - a number of injuries last year and is set to make $15.75 million this season, the final year of a deal he has said he has zero interest in extending until it actually expires and he's certain the team won't be moving to Los Angeles.
The Saints, on the other hand, are actually rumored to have interest in Mariota. Brees is also 36 and has a contract that guarantees him $18.75 million this year and $19.75 million next year. His play dipped somewhat this past season, a down year for the entire Saints organization.
While it, of course, seems far-fetched that either of these scenarios actually unfolds, the most important part of all of this is that the Jets, as Myers notes, seem to have a roster built to win now.
The additions of Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Brandon Marshall point to a team and front office ready to get back to vying for the Lombardi Trophy as soon as possible.
The Jets, if Mariota is still available when their selection comes, could simply take the young signal-caller and suffer along with him during the inevitable quarterback growing pains he'll endure as an NFL neophyte.
Or, should a team like the Chargers or the Saints, ready to flip the page on its present roster construction, come calling, Bowles and Maccagnan could turn the chance to draft an unproven NFL starter like Mariota into an established Pro Bowl player like Rivers or Brees, immediately elevating their good, veteran-laden roster, into a Super Bowl-worthy one.
