Anthony Barr really compared signing with Jets to marrying wrong woman

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The AFC East has been the division of spurned suitors lately.

First, it was Antonio Brown reportedly nixing a trade to the Buffalo Bills to join the Oakland Raiders instead. On Tuesday afternoon, it was Anthony Barr pulling a Josh McDaniels on the New York Jets, changing his mind after accepting their offer in free agency the night before and opting to re-sign with the Minnesota Vikings.

Barr publicly addressed his 180 on Thursday afternoon, explaining the decision with an analogy that's pretty depressing for Jets fans.

"I had conversations with my agent and my family trying to figure out what we were going to do. ... It was like OK, I think we can do New York," Barr told NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano. "I said that and I hung up the phone and I instantly just didn't feel right, it just didn't feel right. Something just didn't feel right. In my heart, I knew I wanted to be, all along I've been saying it for the last year and a half as I've gone through this process, I wanted to remain a Viking."

" ... It was mostly when I hung up the phone after saying, 'Yeah, I can do New York.' My stomach dropped, I kind of get some cold sweats.

"It was like you're about to go down the altar and marry the wrong woman. I think I'm making a bad choice. I did what I felt was right for myself."

We can understand Barr's last-minute objection. Sure, the Jets signed running back Le'Veon Bell, but they've won five or fewer games in three straight seasons and haven't sniffed the playoffs since 2010. With the defending champion New England Patriots atop the heap, the AFC East power structure likely isn't shifting anytime soon. Barr also has spent his entire career in Minnesota and feels loyalty to the team that drafted him.

That means it's back to the drawing board for the Jets, who may have landed a keeper in Bell but let another one get away in the four-time Pro Bowler Barr.

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