Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. The holidays are over, and the decorations are coming down (unless you are one of those psychos that leave them up until April). With all that “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” stuff out of the way it’s time to celebrate the best season of all.

It’s lying season, baby!

That’s right. With games winding down and nothing for media members to do except talk to unpaid interns and third cousins once removed from assistant general managers, let the unsubstantiated rumors fly.

Don’t get me wrong. I love lying season. It’s the media equivalent of sitting around the bar with your buddies and playing the “what if” game.

What if the tuck rule was called a fumble, the way it should have been? What if Payton Manning came out of college after his junior year when the Jets had the number one pick? What if Vinny Testaverde didn’t tear his Achilles on the opening day of 1999?

This is the time of year when smart NFL executives plant stories in the media for a purpose. Maybe it is to drive the price up or down on a particular player or pick. Maybe it is to send a message to a player without saying that players name. This is also the time of year when dumb NFL executives and fans believe them.

Sure, there is an occasional rumor that turns out to be true, but 95% of these stories we hear are lies from sources, plants from sources, or pure speculation. Here is a perfect example from host and Broncos reporter Benjamin Allbright.

I heard a rumor that the Jets might make a play for him to backup Aaron Rodgers next year.

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) December 30, 2023

Ben is hearing the Jets might be looking to trade for Justin Fields is he becomes available to back up Aaron Rodgers. In a word: malarky.

Don’t get me wrong. Ben is a talented guy and I believe that he is hearing this from someone, and frankly, it is his job to put this out there in case it is one of 5% that is real. But it makes absolutely no sense.

First off, I personally believe that Justin Fields will be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears next year and the Bears will use the number one pick on someone else or trade it for a king’s ransom. But assume they do want to trade Fields, why would the Jets make that trade?

For starters, Justin Fields is not a quarterback, he is an entire offense. You don’t just plug him in behind a guy like Aaron Rodgers and call plays as usual if he happens to get in the game. You build a team around a guy like that, or you are doing him and frankly the team a disservice.

Second, the Jets had a chance to take Fields when they drafted Zach Wilson and passed on him then. Now are they supposed to think he is the future? Because the team that did draft him is discarding him? Oh, and are they supposed to trade what limited resources they have (Justin Fields is going for more than a fourth-round pick) to bring in the proverbial square peg?

Supposing you can overlook all of that, what do you do about his contract? You have to pick up his fifth-year option, because you aren’t trading for him to be a one-year back up, but you have no intentions of playing him next year with Aaron Rodgers on the team. So, what do you do next year? Pay him based on practice reps? No.

Again, it’s fun to play the what if game, but this one might just be too far-fetched to be taken seriously.

5 biggest Jets draft needs for 2024

With the Jets all but out of the playoffs, even with the impending return of Aaron Rodgers, the Jets and their fans do what they have done every year for the past decade plus. They start looking towards April and the NFL draft. The Jets currently sit at 4-7 and in third place in the […]

Featured image via Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports