Ruh roh … players have started to make anonymous statements against the team on the dismissal of Thomas Jones according to the Daily News.
“I can tell you, it’s not going to be a popular move in the locker room,” said one player, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We loved T.J. The man loved the game and put it all on the line only to get dumped after his best season. I think you should reward players for performance. You dump him but give Vernon (Gholston) another shot? Doesn’t make sense.”
The point about rewarding players for performance is a nice touch, but this is a continuing issue between players and management, leage-wide. Players think they deserve raises for what they’ve done in the past, while management tends to look at contracts for predicted production.
But that’s where Gholston comes into the argument as an easy and fair punching bag for other players. He’s done exactly NOTHING to deserve the contract he’s been given so far.
Although there’s been some potshots, with that statement Mr. Gholston is officially on notice from his teammates. Granted, cutting Gholston doesn’t make fiscal sense … while cutting Jones does. The Jets would basically have to pay Gholston anyway, even if he was cut by the team, and there’s no way he’d re-work that contract … though he probably should.
Thomas Jones was the vocal leader of this offense, and maybe the quieter players around him are already aware of that absence, and stepping up, albeit anonymously for now.
Cimini also collected some attributed quotes from Faneca, Moore and Woody.
A side note: I think these kinds of comments, especially about Gholston vs. TJ, don’t help the players’ cause in the upcoming labor negotiations.
A few vets have already going on record as saying they want a rookie salary cap so that there will be more $$$ available for vets. It’s this kind of thinking that’s going to undermine the union position if they decide to strike.
Here’s what I said about this on another post:
If the quote is genuine, someone (not Faneca, Moore or Woody, all of whom put their name to quotes in the same article) is pissed that TJ got cut but Vernon didn’t, saying “it doesn’t make sense”. Of course, here’s where NFL players don’t know details about everyone’s contract structure or salary cap rules the way fans do, because it makes perfect sense. The team can cut him next week and pay him $6m now or they can retain him for the year and pay him $6m later – and maybe he’ll contribute along the way. Like Brendan says, he is only 23. This is completely different to cutting a guy when it costs you absolutely nothing to do so and you believe he can be replaced cheaper, allowing you to also upgrade elsewhere.
More telling from that article is the comment that Jones was told his role would decrease and was “crushed” and it “may have affected his performance in the playoffs”. That doesn’t sound like the sort of guy who you will risk paying $6m to be your third running back. That could be a quote leaked by the team to try and spin the move in their favor, but everything else in the article seems to be bashing the move, so I doubt it.
The comment that they still might trade Rhodes next week is interesting too, although I still think that might be a mistake. If he does still “have issues with the coaching staff” then it could be the prudent thing to do though.
Yeah, this never helps anything. I’m not worried about this though. Rex will squash any beefs the players might have with the team.
They should keep things like this in house cause stuff like this is what the media feeds off of these days.
While the players making such comments are upset with the TJ release and may have minimal understanding of each players contract, I definitely don’t blame the players for their angst though. It’s like being at work where the coworker who puts in a 100% of effort to get work done gets laid off and then there’s that useless lazy coworker who doesn’t do anything but instead makes everyone’s workload that much more get paid way too much for 50% of an effort.
This is why players do not run NFL teams.
I totally understand the feeling of the Jet players but comparing a 25 year old “project” to a 32 year old RB in the NFL is pretty silly.
I would be suprised if an intelligent player made this comment but even if they did its more out of not understanding the FO or just an emotional reaction to a good player/team leader leaving.
If the FO has a plan this will be a non story by May
let the players get it out now…let them vent to the media say dumb things when it comes down to and back at camp TJ will be an after thought….
thats how it is…ride the storm now and it will be all forgotten after the draft……
unless we struggle running the ball this season which i dont think we will have a problem with considering I could probably run behind our o-line and have success
or i could just say i agree with aka…drew as usual
I really hope this is blows over eventually. So with TJ gone and a uncertain Leon, what’s everyone’s thoughts on acquiring another RB? I know it’s been discussed many of times on the what if’s and TJ will/won’t be released, but it’s happened!
TJ was done guys, I was big on the band wagon at first, but I looked at his numbers a bit- it wasn’t just the playoffs. Look at Jones’ YPC in: the first half of the season (4.72), second half of the season (3.84), and playoffs (2.60)- he broke down before everyone’s eyes- how could they pay him 6 mil to run for that behind the best O-line in football. They could get anyone to do that, so are they really going to pay 6 mil for a motivational speaker? It sucks, but that’s reality and his production can be replaced very easily.
am I the only one out there who thinks all anonymous quotes from players are completey fabricated?
I got a quote from an anonymou player saying thay’d like Favre to come back to the Jets.
I’m dubious too. Guys like Wallace Wright, Calvin Pace and Brandon Moore have previously come out in support of Vernon and last time someone made some comment along these lines, there were reports shortly afterwards about how the team was pleased with his progress.
It sounds like the sort of thing a fan would say rather than a player. Still, if any positive things he has done have been under the radar, then why would one of his teammates be expected to recognize that any better than us fans?
Was that player a Patriots defensive back by any chance, Matt?
For all the ” number 1 defense” talk and “number 1 rushing” talk I say this … The only reason we even made the Playoffs is because the Colts let us.. Manning woulda beat us by 14 that game and if you think not your kidding yourself ..As “Give Leon the ball” pointed out Jones broke down long before the playoffs.
Point being we kneed more improvement than most teams who make it to the championship game .. CB/DE/OLB/P/RB/KR
I’m actually more concerned about our Punting situation than I am our RB.
Rex will keep ALL players in check.
One more thing for all I know “Ihedibo”(spell check) made those statements if your not gonna put your name on it I don’t wanna hear it..
greene was the featured back in the playoffs and was injured by the third game
You can’t pay everybody. If you give Jones that money then you have $6 million less to resign Revis, Mangold, Brick, or bring in other guys. It’s totally understandable that the players would be upset. But that’s just the way it is. Playing in the NFL is a high stakes game. Decisions like this get made every year and nobody ever likes it at the time. Why would they. This will all go away once training camp starts as players will be more concerned with their own jobs.
Conveniently, there is no way of “fact-checking” Cimini’s anonymous quotes (which he gets more of than any other Jets beat reporter I know of). Funny that his quotes always align with his previous blog entries.
“Barring a last-minute change of heart, Shonn Greene will be your tailback next season. I know this: Dumping Jones will be a very unpopular move in the locker room.” -2/26/2010
I think the “anonymous” quotes also have been colored by the current player/management dispute. The players view the owners as having unlimited money to spend in an uncapped year, so shelling out $6 million for a part-time player makes as much sense as paying Gholston (even though the practical realities are far different). Also, veteran players deeply resent rookie contracts for the Gholston reason, a guy who ends up sucking can make substantially more than a veteran simply because he was a high draft pick and nothing else. In any event, calling out a present teammate while lamenting the loss of a former teammate isn’t cool.
I’m not a Gholston fan, but a high draft pick that needed to learn to play a new position in the NFL just finished his second season with his second defensive coordinator that installed a radically different defensive scheme. Even a more talented player might struggle in such circumstances. VG doesn’t deserve another chance, but the Jets who have paid him a king’s ransom with little to show for it owe it to themselves to see if they can get some return on their investment. That’s just a totally different dynamic from the TJ situation where an aging vet facing a drastic reduction in his carries was going to be paid like a top ten NFL RB.
i bet the “anonymous player” who said that was on the Off line
A wakeup call to Tannenbaum for letting Jones go. When you sign a big name free agent, you are really paying him for past performance on another team and hope he’ll repeat that performance with your team. Jones’ best performance was on our team. Jones improved year after year. What kind of message are you sending to your guys in the locker room? Didn’t you learn anything from the Pete Kendall incident? If you perform really well, your reward is we might cut your pay or release you. If it’s about the money, look at what Gholston is making for being unproductive. Some idiot said Jones’ 1400 were soft, Ask Leon Washington how soft they were.
Bottom line is that Thomas Jones’ tank is near empty. Here’s a good article:
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_3157_Stop_running_back_abuse!.html
Basically, the author points out that an RB that reaches 400 touches (carries and receptions) in his late 20s, no matter what the number of overall touches he already had in his career, is basically done. Last season, including playoffs and at 31, TJ had a little more than 370 touches. Adjusting for the extra age, that’s real close to the end of the line, if not over. Also, the author mentions that at 2,800 career touches, an RB is also done (but, the author assumes that the number of touches begins earlier in an RB’s career). Including playoffs, TJ is at 2,700 AND well over half his overall touches STARTED in his late 20s.
Again, we all like TJ, but $6 million for, maybe, 100 more productive touches? No way.
Jones 1400 yards were as soft as they come.. 333 carries you better get 1400 yards … Good bye ..
Im guessing this comment is from Damien Woody. He’s a big talker. Apparently he was the one going around telling the reporters when Rex cried in the locker room. I don’t get the motive behind making a comment like this. He’s released already, putting down a teamate won’t bring him back. It’s a business and Jones was clearly burnt out at the end of the year. And don’t forget that he wanted a new contract last year. So this was the best solution for both parties. We don’t overpay for a player on the decline and Jones is a top 2 rb on the market and should get a decent contract in a down year in terms of ufa. But I have to say that I respect the way Jones handeled his business and never was a distraction to the team. Hope him nothing but the best unless he’s playing the Jets.
Alex – Woody put a name to his comments in the same article. In my limited experience he is a very measured and professional talker. He’d actually be one of the last guys I’d expect to have said it, if it’s even a genuine comment.
The writers all have “their guys” on the team who make these quotes. When you see the way the writers all went to bat for Chris Baker, in what would have been an insane move for the Jets at the money, last year you know he was frequently an “unnamed source”. There are others that often get lobbied for pro bowl from certain writers and consistently praised that are also the types who I would imagine are the guys also give these quotes. FWIW, I dont think Woody is one of those guys. Brandon Moore I believe definitely is. Not saying that was him giving that quote, and he was named elsewhere as a quote, but those are the guys the writers often turn to. This hasnt been the first time guys have spoken up about Gholston. There is definitely resentment from the players towards him. Makes you think its going to really be impossible for him to ever have a chance.
Maybe there’s just one guy who dislikes Gholston (or just has resentment for highly paid draft picks in general) and the same guy is quoted over and over (if the quotes are genuine). Other Jets, including Wright and Pace have spoken favorably about Gholston too.
I agree that Moore definitely is. He’s been talked up a lot in the past.
No Jet player would say that to anyone period. That my friend, is lies.
Marvel,
We had no passing game. You think yards are easy to come by, when the other team knows you are always running the ball. There is no one who runs for 1400 “soft” yards. In his last three seasons, TJ averaged 300 carries and two fumbles a season — was that “soft”. He didn’t miss a game, as a Jet – is that “soft”.
The days of paying players for past success are long gone in the NFL. You can’t have it both ways. The more upfront, guaranteed money players get – and more power to them if they can – the less margin for error there is on the part of the FO. Teams simply cannot afford to pour a lot of money and cap space into older, road worn players. Agents complicate matters by coming up with these absurd ballon deals that they know have no chance of being honored. TJ seems like a great teammate, locker room leader, etc., but that isn’t worth 6 million dollars that could be better employed elsewhere. I won’t cry for him and the money he’s made over the course of his career. I appreciate his service and contribution to the team and wish him well.
GM’s have to make unpopular decisions to give their teams the best chance of succeeding. I just came from a screening of Dan Klores’ documentary: “Winning Time – Reggie Miller vs the New York Knicks.” In it, Donnie Walsh talks about the tremendous pressure to draft Steve Alford for the Pacers in ’87. He said there death threats and he was literally afraid of being shot when he went up on the stage to announce the selection of Miller.
Unless Revis, Mangold or Brick gets a HUGE guaranteed signing bonus, why on earth would they resign with us? Our contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on, just ask TJ.
James – they will get a huge bonus. Revis is expected to be offered $40m guaranteed by the Jets.
Besides, every team does this. The Jets have spent more money on big contracts over the last few years than ever before. Why were none of those guys turned off by the fact that the jets “dumped” Chad, Coles, Baker, Kendall, etc?
This is no different from the Pats dumping all those guys during their championship run.