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The Jets like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Fitzpatrick likes the Jets, so it makes sense that those two crazy kids should stick together.

But beyond the simple draw of a 10-win season and inertia, there’s also a sense that the free agent-t0-be quarterback can push the team beyond this year’s level.

General Manager Mike Maccagnan said during an interview with WFAN’s Mike Francesa that Fitzpatrick can certainly be part of the formula for a winning team.

“I definitely think Ryan’s a quarterback we can win with,” Maccagnan said, via Dom Cosentino of NJ.com. “Everybody kind of looks for that, whatever, if you call it franchise quarterback, or a very high-caliber quarterback, whatever the case may be. We had success this year, and had we played better at some point in time in one of those six losses, we could have been in the playoffs. And once you get there, anything could happen.

“The one thing I will say is this: I do think we can success with Ryan. But the thing I liked about our team this year was that, like I said before, they all kind of complemented each other well. So if you can build a good, solid team—and I’m not just talking, not just offense, defense, also special teams—we can go out there, hopefully, and be competitive, and compete for the playoffs. We can do it with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Bryce Petty as our quarterbacks.”

All three of those guys might not be thrilled with that arrangement, but the Jets do have significant work to do at other positions.

And if they spend their cap room keeping their star-studded defensive line together, among other things, using cap room and draft picks to bolster other areas might be the more prudent way to build.

But as much as they like Fitzpatrick and they like him, the sour ending to an otherwise good season should force them to consider a quarterback with the 20th pick in the first round if the one they like is there.