Jets, QB Tuiasosopo reach an agreement Veteran to compete for backup job Thursday, March 22, 2007 BY DAVE HUTCHINSON Star-Ledger Staff The Jets have reached an agreement in principle with unrestricted free-agent quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo and a deal could be in place by the end of the week, according to someone with knowledge of the discussions. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks. Tuiasosopo, who has played all six of his seasons with the Oakland Raiders, visited the Jets at the start of free agency this month. He also visited the Panthers and Browns. The Jets, who released Patrick Ramsey earlier this month, were looking for a quarterback with NFL experience to challenge second-year pro Kellen Clemens for the backup job to starter Chad Pennington. Tim Rattay (Tampa Bay) and Anthony Wright (Bengals) were among those on the Jets' short list. Tuiasosopo, who turns 28 today, was a second-round pick of the Raiders in 2001 out of the University of Washington. He has only two career starts, including a start against the Jets on Dec. 11, 2005. He completed 14 of 28 passes for 124 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a 26-10 loss at Giants Stadium. Overall, Tuiasosopo, 6-1, 220 pounds, has completed 48 of 88 career passes for 550 yards with two touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last season, he completed six of 13 passes for 68 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in two games. The Jets feel Clemens, who played in just two games last season (0-for-1 with four sacks) in mop-up duty, is the heir apparent to Pennington but they wanted someone with NFL experience to challenge him in training camp. Clemens was a second-round pick (49th overall) out of Oregon last April. Texans: Houston is close to acquiring Matt Schaub from the Atlanta Falcons. A trade for the highly regarded backup quarterback was expected to be announced today, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who requested anonymity because the deal hadn't been completed. The person did not disclose the details of the trade. The Houston Chronicle and the NFL Network said the Falcons will get second-round picks in 2007 and 2008 and that the teams will swap first-round picks this year, with Atlanta moving from 10th to eighth. A call by The Associated Press to Texans general manager Rick Smith wasn't immediately returned yesterday. Rich McKay, Atlanta's general manager, had no comment. The acquisition of Schaub would make it unlikely that David Carr -- the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft -- will remain with the Texans. Eagles: Coach Andy Reid will return from a temporary leave of absence tomorrow, five weeks after leaving the team while his two oldest sons face legal troubles. Reid took a leave of absence on Feb. 12, after his two oldest sons became embroiled in legal troubles stemming from separate traffic incidents on Jan. 30. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@starledger.com ? 2007 The Star Ledger ? 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
i can live with this, its not likely he will see the field, and if so then we are screwed anyway...lets hope hes cheap
just wait until the draft, then free agency, then TC.... in time young ones...patience with master mangini
most likely not, however they can fill some... either they are truly drafting for the future, as in 2008, or they know something we dont, like a potential TC cap casualty that they are ready to pounce on when it happens...or maybe even something else that they are working under the radar... lets be real...we didnt even know Thomas Jones was coming to the jets, so are we really going to expect their next big move?
My stance is you build for the future but when a great player presents it self you have to take advantage. they never offered a contract to Adalius Thomas who is a slam dunk exactly what we need. The talent level on this team needs to improve a lot more we want this team to ultimately become a contender. This I realize will not happen in one offseason, but signing second tier guys like darian barnes, kenyon coleman, and possibly David Bowens wont get it done
He'll compete with Clemens in camp - if he wins then we know Clemens isn't all he's meant to be, if he loses he's #3, so who cares?
Well, this will at least puts the Carr talks to rest. I can't see this guy ever getting on the field though. Unless he's head and shoulders above Clemens and were in the playoff hunt, the only catagory he should lead us in is ass splinters received.
We have had a great offfseason so far, just b/c we didn't bring in alot of big names doesn't mean we haven't done well. Big names usually mean big trouble which is why I am not high on NE's offseason.
Exactly right. I'm sick of hearing that NE is loading up for one last run. Isn't that what they should be doing? Then next year they will reload again, and the year after that too. Last year we went into FA 26 million over the cap so we couldn't do a thing. This year we went in 20 million under and still didn't do a thing. What's the excuse this time? Building for the future in the NFL is meaningless when the average career is still only 3.3 years.
He's awful. I don't like the signing, I'd rather pick a late round QB with some potential to develop. It doesn't matter that he has starting experience, because if Chad and KC go down, we're screwed anyway.
I think this is a fine signing. Sure, it's not glitzy, but he's a probable third stringer - who cares? I like the insurance.
This would defeat the entire purpose of signing a vet to challenge Clemens in camp, wouldn't it? You don't develop 3rd QBs.
Just b/c you have cap room doesn't mean you use it. NE is making a big mistake this offseason despite what the "experts" say. Thomas is a 30 year old and was a GOOD not great player. I would have went nuts if we gave him $20 mil guaranteed. you post the average career for an NFL player, what do you think the average career left is for a 30 year old? Who do you want as our #3 QB? should we sign David carr when he is released? 3rd string QBs aren't good anywhere, any team that loses it's top 2 will be screwed and most will be screwed losing their #1(we might be as we don't know if Clemens can play yet).
