Because the plane fell straight down from the sky, not on a horizontal angle.
I've seen the footage of these boots, the concept seems feeble at best, why can't they just heat the wing to keep it above freezing?
Does the glide ratio of that plane make any of those options discussed even possible? I'm assuming they were not real options thats why the guy ditched in the Hudson.
Take the job and don't worry about a few dollars shorter than the last job. The last job didn't work out for you. A bird in the hand vs. two in the bush logic is valid here.