Aug 7th 2008 3:06PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, AFC EastThere might come a time next spring (and who knows how many springs after that) when Kellen Clemens is going to need somebody to talk to. Somebody to tell him that, yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There will be only one person who can truly say that: Aaron Rodgers.

The Jets and Brett Favre have both agreed to go year-by-year with Favre’s future beyond 2008. Unlike past offseasons in Green Bay, this decision won’t just be weighed by Favre’s desire for the game. It’ll also be dictated by how the Jets perform as well as how Favre feels after a year about his new location, teammates, and organization. One thing the decision won’t be dictated by is Clemens.

So Clemens, like Rodgers, is a highly-drafted quarterback once penciled in as the franchise’s future. Sure, Clemens already has five times more passes thrown in the NFL than Rodgers, and hasn’t looked liked the Jets’ future, but I don’t think last year’s team is the best barometer to judge a young quarterback who surely hasn’t reached his ceiling.

And Clemens, like Rodgers, now gets to be the one whose development is stunted and hopes dashed by the annual will-he-or-won’t-he seesawing Favre has now become famous for. Maybe Favre finds peace with himself after this year and retires, handing the team over to Clemens. But even if that’s the decision Favre makes you can be sure he’s going to labor over it intensely next year. Either way, Clemens’ future is now stuck in the hands of a man who can’t decide what to do with his own.