Five offseason questions for Jets

1. Will QB Mark Sanchez have surgery?

He could be in line to go under the knife for the second straight offseason. Sanchez injured his right shoulder early in the Jets’ win over the Steelers five weeks ago and has played through what the team has termed soreness. However, after their victory over Buffalo in the regular-season finale, when the plan called for him to hand the ball off eight times and not throw one pass, Sanchez didn’t rule out surgery.

2. How many of their 17 looming free agents will the Jets re-sign?

They stacked the deck for what they thought would be a deep run into the postseason, knowing they’d have numerous decisions to make with key players. They’ll have to figure out whether they want to bring back wideouts Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards and cornerback Antonio Cromartie. Don’t forget about those who signed one-year tenders, such as wide receiver/kick returner Brad Smith. What do they do about a veteran backup quarterback if Mark Brunell retires or they think his services no longer are needed? Plus, the Jets have to take care of one of their homegrown talents, linebacker David Harris, who’s up for a new deal. Plenty of questions here.

3. If there is a new collective-bargaining agreement, how will that affect the Jets’ ability to retain some of those free agents?

No one seems to know because there’s so much still up in the air. “A lot of uncertainty for us,” general manager Mike Tannenbaum told Newsday last month. “Not a lot we can do. There’s that old expression and we are going to worry about the part that we can control, which is preparation. And once we get the rules, we’ll be ready to go. But we don’t really know what the rules are. We can start prioritizing things once we know. Is there a salary cap? How much is it? How many franchise tags do you get? Do you get any transition tags? We have a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

4. Will the Jets’ coaching staff remain mostly intact?

For the most part, yes. Mike Westhoff, their longtime special-teams coordinator, has another year left on his contract and strongly implied that next season will be his last. Brian Schottenheimer, who was on the Bills’ radar when they were searching for a head coach last season, is poised to return for his sixth season with the Jets after failing to land — or even receive an interview for — a head-coaching gig. Rumors that the Eagles were interested in defensive coordinator Mike Pettine proved to be false; he’ll be back for another season, helping Rex Ryan devise the game plan and working with him on the play-calling duties.

5. How many off-the-field “incidents” will the Jets have next time around?

They would be wise to stay out of the spotlight, given the inordinate number of headlines they created during the last year away from the field. It all began with Rex Ryan’s obscene gesture toward a fan at a mixed martial arts event in South Florida the week before last year’s Super Bowl. Just to name a few: making TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz feel uncomfortable in the locker room just before the season opener, the Jenn Sterger-Brett Favre sexual-harassment investigation, Sal Alosi’s trip, the surfacing of some foot-fetish videos allegedly involving Ryan and his wife, Michelle, and the most recent lawsuit brought up by two Long Island massage therapists claiming sexual harassment.