The New York Jets plan to keep quarterback Chad Pennington on the roster for 2008.  The real question, however, is whether they plan to pay Pennington a base salary of $6 million to be the backup to Kellen Clemens, if Clemens wins the starting job.

Per the New York Daily News, G.M. Mike Tannenbaum has informed Pennington’s agent, Tom Condon, that Pennington will be a member of the team in 2008.

“Chad is under contract,” Tannenbaum said.  “I’m happy he is here.  Eric [Mangini] is happy he is here and the best player will play.  Chad is going to be here this year.”

But if Pennington isn’t regarded as the best player at the quarterback position after training camp and the preseason, how can the Jets justify giving him $6 million to sit on the bench?  They can’t, and they won’t.

Instead, Pennington would surely be asked at that point to take a steep reduction in his 2008 salary, possibly with much of the money converted to incentives based on whether and to what extent he ends up taking many/any snaps as the season unfolds.

There’s another fly in the proverbial ointment here.  Per the Daily News, the Jets held a private workout on March 21 for Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, who also is represented by Condon.

Tannenbaum explained that the Jets were merely performing their “due diligence” on Ryan, but Tannenbaum didn’t rule out selecting Ryan with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft.

The mere fact that the Jets are kicking Ryan’s tires isn’t good news for Clemens, the second-round draft pick in year one of the Tannenbaum-Mangini regime.  If the G.M. and coach are sufficiently secure in their jobs to cut the cord on Clemens, perhaps they’ll give the job to Chad in 2008 — and resume the search for his eventual successor.