It is hard to be a fan of the New York Jets.

They have hardly done anything right since Joe Willie Namath won SuperBowl III, and every time you think maybe they are finally turning the corner, they find some new way to screw things up.

Today the Jets traded Darrelle Revis, the best cornerback in the NFL and far and away the best player on the team. It is never a good idea to trade the best player on your team. The Jets desperately need a shut-down corner, since they do not have a real pass-rush threat, and the only way they ever get any pressure on the opponent’s QB is by shutting down his receivers long enough for the rushers to get there. Revis was a huge part of the reason why Rex Ryan’s defense has been so good (ups and downs, sure, but still one of the better defenses in the league). So they get rid of him Right.

Only the Jets. They have a pretty good defense and a godawful offense, so what’s their big offseason move? “Hey, let’s get rid of our best player, bring the D down to the same level as the O.”

Now, maybe, MAYBE, you can make a case for trading Revis if you get a “Herschel Walker” deal. That is, a deal as rich as the one where the Dallas Cowboys traded RB Herschel Walker to the Vikings, and got so many players and draft choices that it won them three SuperBowls. And it is worth noting that Herschel Walker, while a damn good player, was neither the best player on the Cowboys nor the best running back in the NFL at that time.

But the Jets did not get a Herschel Walker deal. Revis is going to Tampa Bay. In return, the Jets get Tampa’s first round draft choice this year (#13 overall, not even a top ten pick) and a conditional fourth round pick next year. Yeah, NEXT YEAR. Yeah, I said FOURTH round. Maybe it becomes a third. Whoop-de-doo.

The Jets, in short, got rooked. Congrats, Tampa Bay GM, you drank our milkshake.

And what about the new Jets GM? Fire his ass now. Bring back Mike Tannenbaum. Bring back the guy before Mike Tannenbaum. Hell, bring back Harry Wismer.

The best theory about this trade is that the Jets want the #1 pick overall in the 2014 draft. Cause this next season is going to be bloody painful. After which our new whizz-bang “let’s give away our best player for a bag of old jockstraps” GM is going to fire Rex Ryan because, after all, that 2 – 14 record is clearly Rex’s fault.

The year after that is likely to be even worse, even with that swell fourth-round-maybe-it-becomes-a-third we’ll be getting from Tampa Bay. That is, assuming Kal-El Son of Jor-El isn’t coming out in next year’s draft. And even if he was, the Jets wouldn’t take him. All that green would remind him too much of kryptonite.

Sigh.

Excuse me, while I go weep into my beer.

(It is not all bad. I will always have Paris. And Parris. And the Giants)

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