The value of the Sanchez deal

Last night, the New York Jets completed a deal with first-round pick Mark Sanchez, signing him to a contract that included $28 million guaranteed. Today, I will discuss the importance of signing Sanchez early in the summer and why it makes the Jets and new head coach Rex Ryan even more of a threat in the AFC East.

The Deal

Signing Sanchez to a deal more than a month before training camp starts is bigger news than when the Jets traded up to get the former USC star in the first round of April’s draft, in my opinion.

APThe Jets gave Sanchez $28 million in up front money.

There’s always the threat of a holdout when it comes to top-10 draft picks in the NFL. I saw it in my own career as we went out to practice for the first few days — and weeks — of August without our No. 1 pick.

It causes distractions, and it causes veteran players to question why a rookie — who is going to triple their own salaries — is at home with his feet up waiting to sign a contract.

Veterans talk about it in the locker room, during dinner in camp, and they begin to wonder where the rookie’s priorities lie. They know he’s going to be counted on to contribute, and the last thing they want to see is that rookie playing from behind because of missed time.

Well, the Jets took care of that when they gave Sanchez a five-year, $50-million deal (it could go up to $60 million), including that large sum of guaranteed cash.

Problem solved.

Now, the Jets and Ryan can move forward. They can count on Sanchez being there on day one of camp, and they can begin to build their offense around the rookie and give him the keys to the bus.

And because of that, this Jets team will be a competitor in the AFC East this fall.

The Team

We don’t know how to predict the Jets’ 2009 season yet, but we do know they’ll have their quarterback under center when the horn blows on a humid summer morning to signal the official start of the season in training camp.

In my opinion, this is bigger than Leon Washington and Thomas Jones wanting new contracts or the media standoff between Ryan and Dolphins LB Channing Crowder (although I do love that kind of stuff from a rookie head coach).

APThe Jets and Sanchez can now move forward and concentrate on the 2009 season.

To build this team in camp, the quarterback position needs to be solidified early. It’s no different than the competitions at QB that will go on in Tampa, Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco.

The quarterbacks need to be there the first day of camp, and they need to be there to compete — starting with that first meeting and first drill. There’s no time in camp to allow a player to make up for an absence. Trust me, you miss a day of camp and you will be behind for a week, if not more.

These practices are intense, and after one day, you move forward — and don’t look back.

A veteran holding out — someone who knows the offense or defense — may be able to make up for lost time, but a rookie? No chance. Sanchez needs to be there to work on the two-minute offense and the red-zone passing game, and he needs to line up against a defense that’s going to be very effective during 7-on-7 and team drills — in pads.

We can talk all we want about Sanchez learning the offense in mini-camp and OTAs — which he has — but he needs to implement that same offensive scheme against his teammates in pads, and even more so in preseason games when he will have to step into an NFL pass rush and deliver the football on time and on target.

That’s why it was essential for the Jets and Sanchez to come to terms on a deal that would put the rookie in camp for that first night meeting, and throw in him in the fire on that first day of practice. Plus, his teammates want to see it. They want to watch him produce against real training camp competition.

We all know that their plan is to start Sanchez from day one, and no one wanted to see the rookie sitting on the sidelines come opening day because of missed time in camp — forcing them to start Kellen Clemens. Because this will be a better football team with Sanchez in the huddle.

The quarterback position is crucial to the success of any team in the NFL, and for the Jets, they just took care of theirs by signing Sanchez.

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