Buzz: Could John Morton leave the Jets to join up with Jon Gruden's staff in Oakland?

We'll have more analysis from yesterday's game soon, but first we need to address a dangling thread from yesterday.

The Daily News was the first to report that if Jon Gruden is hired by the Oakland Raiders, as expected, he might seek to hire current Jets offensive coordinator John Morton for his staff.

Whether or not you put much stock into his sources, Manish Mehta's report seems to make logical sense because Morton has worked under Gruden in the past and Gruden was extremely complimentary of Morton after the Jets first announced they hired him.

Mehta's report also suggests that the Jets "would not stand in the way" if Morton wanted to make the move. However, he is under contract and it would be a lateral move so it's unclear at this stage whether they would grant him a free release or seek draft compensation. It may be that they made certain promises to Morton when he was first hired and that reneging on those would be damaging to any future attempts to add to their coaching staff.

There's already speculation as to who could replace Morton if he leaves:

This would make sense from a continuity perspective because Bates - the current quarterbacks coach - is extremely familiar with the Morton scheme and even operated as the playcaller in Morton's first year as an offensive coordinator at USC.

With the likes of Steve Marshall, Stump Mitchell and Karl Dorrell still on the staff - assuming Morton wouldn't seek to take any of them with him - that would also ensure stability.

Speculation during the offseason was that Marshall and Mitchell would play a big role in the development of the running game and the ambitious Mitchell could be ready to move up into a full-time running game coordinator role leaving Bates to focus on the passing game. Perhaps Josh McCown could be a candidate to take on Bates' quarterback coach role too.

Of course, we may be jumping the gun here. Gruden may not even get hired by the Raiders. It seems likely though, because you wouldn't have expected Jack Del Rio to be fired with three years remaining on his deal if there wasn't already a contigency plan in place.

Would Morton leaving be a big deal or did the Jets' improved stability this year come from McCown? Should the Jets play hardball and seek draft compensation or pay mind to how they are perceived among the coaching community? Would a Gruden-led Raiders team be destined for success? Who will be the new color guy on Monday Night Football? Let's have your thoughts in the comments...