Monthly Archives: March 2008
As of last week, we are proud to announce that the ‘home of the Mets, Jets and all things New York sports’ has added another blog to their growing web presence, TheJetsBlog.com. After a few months of phone calls, meetings and contract negotiations, TheJetsBlog.com and SportsNet New York have agreed to enter into a formal partnership.
Can you believe it? It’s a long way from starting as a means of catharsis from moving to the New England in 2004, but it’s true!
TheJetsBlog.com will be standing alongside other excellent sources of information like Matt Cerrone’s Metsblog, WasWatching and GiantsFootballBlog.
We at TJB are very excited about working more closely with SNY. TJB is growing faster than we could have imagined and partnering with an organization with hundreds of hours of on-air programming a year about the Jets, excellent access to our favorite team and a rapidly growing brand were serious factors in our decision.
That said, the two most important factors of us entering any agreement like this were that we wanted to make sure the organization understood what us blogger-types were all about and if we would be allowed to retain all editorial control.
SNY is equally committed to increasing their brand on the web as well as on TV. As a newer media outlet, it’s clear that SNY understands the place and potential of new media — specifically blogs — a topic that is obviously very close to our heart.
Although we are in the middle of a self-imposed site re-design, for the most part, much of what you have become accustomed to seeing in terms of content on TJB will not change.
We the writers and editors at TJB will maintain editorial control of the site — this was one of the very first things that SNY was eager to stress they wanted TJB to keep — proof enough that SNY truly wanted to partner with what TJB was already doing (rather than hijacking a writer) and thus build both organizations.
From time to time, you commenters have noted that you would love to see what TJB could do with more access. Keeping in mind that Tannenbaum & Mangini run a tight ship, with this partnership in place we hope to have better access to the team, players, media analysts and information which will allow us to create even better content than you’ve seen to date.
It’s possible that you’ll see us pop up in other places from time to time like the Draft or Training Camp, but for now, let’s take it one day at a time and see what opportunities present themselves. With SNY able to help, our leverage and access will be greatly increased — all to the benefit of you the readers.
Stay tuned for news later this week about our Draft Weekend Party!
Over the course of the next few weeks, we are going to try and run highlights of college players that you might or might not be familiar with, but could be names you will be hearing more as the Draft approaches.
Today’s installment, one of the top line prospects in this draft … Ryan Clady from Boise State.
Oy, this one again?
ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson reports on Hashmarks that it sounds like the trade talks that were once thought dead, might have been rekindled.
As the NFL meetings get going, the Broncos are starting to revive their interest in Jets defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson … with [fired GM Ted] Sundquist now out of the picture and with Denver still needing a force in the middle of its young front four, the team has reconsidered making a deal for Robertson, a talented player who doesn’t fit in the Jets’ scheme.
That’s all we know for now … until they tell us the deal is off … yet again …
In a word, no.
In the same article from Gary Myers I linked to earlier, Myers references that it might be a Three’s Company scenario in Hempstead this summer.
Pennington could easily be the starter coming out of training camp. But he and Clemens could have company this summer. The Jets held a private workout in Boston on March 21 for Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan. It was attended by Mangini, Tannenbaum and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. They are the three key QB decision-makers and they all would not have been there if the Jets did not have serious interest in Ryan.
ProFootballTalk has this to say about the situation
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.
Florio’s logic is wrong … kicking Ryan’s tires has nothing to do with Kellen Clemens and their faith in him, it has to do with a methodical approach to the draft. One in which the Jets have had some solid results with in the past few years.
Added onto that, the team has made the future of this team less reliant on a Quarterback, so as I now see it, whether it’s Pennington or Clemens or even Matt Ryan, as a fan I don’t have to worry about the burden of winning being solely on the Quarterback of the team.
This front office is nothing if not dilgent and over the past two years, the team has been cornered into drafting for need on Day One, they are now in a position to let the draft come to them. I firmly believe, the Jets are in a situation where they are going to weigh all their options and want to know who would be available to them at the sixth pick. Spending as much time with the top ten players will help them set their draft board best and make whatever decision is best, whether that means taking Matt Ryan some other player or even if it means moving back.
Gary Myers of the Daily News caught up with Woody Johnson at the owners meetings in Florida over the weekend.
… with lots of speculation around the NFL that Tannenbaum and Mangini must win now to keep their jobs after going 4-12 last year, owner Woody Johnson attempted to put an end to that talk.
No matter what happens this season, neither Mangini nor Tannenbaum will be fired, Johnson said. He told The News that Tannenbaum and Mangini “absolutely” will be back in 2009 regardless of the Jets’ record this season. “I really think it takes time to build,” Johnson said. “You can’t do it in one season.”
Consistently good teams take time to build in our opinion, so patience is definitely a virtue. The Jets had money to spend, and they spent a lot of it upgrading key positions at which they had to get better to be relevant in the next few years. In some cases, it was buying time while they develop other players.
Tannenbaum and Mangini’s fingerprints are pretty much all over this team now, albeit with a few smudges left from the former regime like Dewayne Robertson, still Woody is giving his guys some room to build this team which is exactly what they need.
- Rich Cimini writes an excellent bio piece on Darren McFadden,
- The bond crisis could be causing issues for the Jets new stadium.
- Mack Rosenberg expounds on Jerry Jones’ statements on moving up, and what it means to the Jets.
- Ray Lucas is being honored in his hometown.
- I don’t like the thoughts on re-seeding, and Langer takes a look at the re-seeding, and wonders about it too.
- Chris Williams speaks to Football Outsiders.
- Ricky Williams is fired up by Parcells.
- Could Dorsey go as his as #2?
- New partial owner Stephen Ross of the Dolphins will go through the wringer this week.
Hutch gets the story straight on Coles’ deal. Coles wanted a long-term deal, and last month the team offered him the final two years on his contract guaranteed, with some provisions to make Coles happy:
The club broke the stalemate and guaranteed the final two years of Coles’ contract at $11 million ($5 million in 2008, $6 million in 2009), the first such agreement in team history … the details of the tweaking of Coles’ contract remain unclear but the club has assured Coles he will receive a long-term deal at the end of next season if he remains healthy and has a big year, or he will be allowed to seek a trade on his own, according to a person with knowledge of the talks.
So everyone gave something … ah the art of the compromise.
Mack Rosenberg writes for SBNation’s NY Landing Strip, and writes a weekly column here at TheJetsBlog. This week, he takes a tough-love look at the Jets wide receivers.
Hey, everyone. Glad to be back here on TJB. This week, I thought I’d put a twist on the topics, switching over to some non-draft related stuff. I have noticed a lot of very interesting things this off season, and I’m glad I can continue to share my thoughts with you right here.
So the Jets look to be have signed Laveranues Coles to a new contract, something we’ve been hearing about all week. Look, I’m happy we’re taking him back, at his demands of course, and I think he can still be a nice threat when healthy. But what about when he’s not healthy? Can we seriously rely on Jerricho Cotchery, a guy who has played in Coles’ shadow over the past two years and only shown flashes of greatness? (more…)
Jerry Jones made some statements this past week about being in the top five (but he does mention the sixth pick too) of the NFL Draft and how it’s a millstone. I had started writing up a piece about this, but it looks as if MDS has done a far better job expressing my sentiments on top five picks in his latest guest post on Fifth Down.
Here’s Jerry’s thoughts about moving up.
“I have no intent at all of moving into the top five,” Jones told the Star-Telegram. “A team can get crippled, and I mean seriously crippled, from a financial standpoint by being up there in the top five or six. It’s a real negative.
“Nobody wants in there, and the teams in there, they want out.”
Now who can really tell what’s going on in Jerry Jones’ mind, but that kind of frank talk about top picks is pretty rare from owners.
Although I think many of us would want to switch back with Jones for those two late first rounders, it’s been clear for a while that teams with lower first round picks have more leverage than teams with higher picks in the past 2-3 years. I know many fans would say “who doesn’t want a higher pick?” But as we’ve talked about for months now, the Jets are sitting pretty at six.
Mike Florio hits the nail on the head on Yahoo! Sports about how Pennington is taking the high road — potentially to his own peril.
In an era when guys like Coles and ex-Jet Pete Kendall have realized the benefits of becoming a big, fat splinter in the franchise’s foot, Pennington hasn’t forced the issue.
On one hand, it’s odd that any pro athlete would behave this way. On the other hand, it’s refreshing. Pennington has a contract and is respecting that contract. Sure, the Jets can string him along for the entire offseason. Yeah, he’d make more money and have a better chance to start if he were traded to, say, any of the four teams in the NFC North.
It’s the selflessness and his ‘team mentality’ that makes him so admirable to many fans, myself included.
I think that Clemens might have a leg up in terms of who gets the job come September, but I do think we’ll see a QB competition in Hempstead this summer, and that will determine the future of #10.
Cap tip to Matt in Virginia for the link.
Someone’s got it wrong on the Coles deal. The Post has reported that the deal was extended (emphasis mine).
Laveranues Coles Laveranues Coles , who entered this offseason with two remaining years on his contract worth $11 million but wanted an extension to ensure he’d finish his career as a Jet, yesterday agreed to that extension. Terms of the deal were not immediately available, but it’s believed Coles had either two or three years added to his contract.
While ESPN.com‘s Pat Yaskinas has reported something quite different (emphasis mine).
The New York Jets have guaranteed the $11 million remaining on the final two years of receiver Laveranues Coles’ contract, a league source said Friday. Coles had been seeking a contract extension, but guaranteeing the remaining two years is an apparent compromise between the team and the receiver. Coles had been critical of the Jets earlier in the offseason for spending money on players from outside and not taking care of players already on the team.
The two year guarantee is a compromise? Really? I thought that was the bone of contention in the first place. So … either the deal was extended or not …
Who ya got??
