Pete Kendall is currently by far our best lineman. It would not be in the jets best interest to let him go. And as it mentionbed earlier he is a great guy to act as a mentor and show some veteran leadership in the locker room. It would be a shame if we cut or traded him.
My sense is that the depth chart currently looks something like... 1.Kendall 2.Smith 3.Jones If I were running the club I would be offering Kendall for a 3rd and would settle for a 4th. Anything else would be uncivlized.
eh, i don't know. i think Mangini doesn't want to run the risk of a player swaying the others' attitudes and emotions if they contrast his. sure, if it's only Kendall, that's really not a problem; but what if Kendall starts talking to one guy, then another, then they start talking to others, and suddenly there's a risk of mutiny. it's farfetched, but not completely implausible. combine that with his age and our potential young depth... i don't want to see him go, but i trust the FO's judgement. besides, if Kendall starts to decline this year, it's better to dump him now than have a liability on the line AND get nothing for him next year. cheers
Id be very dissappointed to lose kendall- i cant really think of anthing realistic i'd want them to trade in return that'd be worth it- unless mangini has sudden confidenced about jones or bender or someone
What's the expression: can't teach an old dog new tricks? A leopard doesn't change its spots. I'm glad they got rid of Mawae last year: they got a future Pro Bowl center in Mangold. I'd be more surprised if they got rid of Kendall without a suitable replacement in line, but this regime tends to think a couple of steps ahead so who knows that they don't have his replacement one trade away. I'm not for getting rid of Kendall necessarily, but I don't know what he's like behind the scenes. And unlike preacherman Herm, who thought he could change the world, Magini apparently likes to cut his losses and move on.
He had a great first initial yr with the Jets when the signed him from Arizona. He played some center and did a decent job after Mawae went down in 2005. He then proceded to get hurt, and when he came back was down right dreadful. and Brandon Moore/Adrian Jones continued to start. I think he's solid and the Fins could use any help on the offensive line right now.
Rap? Mawae was a documented locker room politician. He made the press his mouthpiece when Groh was HC and he thought practices were too hard. He gave what seemed like a weekly critique of Groh in the press. When Mawae didn't like something, people knew about it. Herm was his dream coach, a guy who elevated proven veterans to a rather high pedestal in the locker room (and the depth chart, regardless of performance). Some veterans just want their ass kissed, and Mangini wasn't having that.
The issue with Kendall is purely on the field. He does not have the bulk or power to move defensive tackles off the ball. he's excellent in space, traps, counters putting a body on someone but when he goes up against a guy who has 30 or 40 pounds on him he's just not going to win that battle. This team going forward needs two big strong guards who can maul people.
That's Belichik's MO also. Locker-room problems get cleaned up via the "my way or the highway" route. Parcells also does that but he'll live with a problem player longer unless the guy appears to have leverage due to outstanding skills. Then he ditches him fast (Hugh Douglas.)
Haha..it all goes back to Vince Lombardi and Jim Ringo. Ringo showed up in Lombardi's office with an agent, one of the first to have one. Lombardi left for five minutes and returned to inform them that Ringo had just been traded to the Eagles. That's how he dealt with issues that he couldn't control too.
It's probably also declining skills. Being an advocate for the player point of view in the locker-room is an irritant to any team, since it creates an inevitable conflict with management. When the irritation outweighs the production things generally happen to relieve the irritation. The two cardinal sins in the Parcells tree are lack of production and bitching. Both of those will get you the heave-ho in a hurry. With Belichik just bitching (mostly about money) can do it. With Kendall we'll get to gauge where Mangini lies along that axis. Obviously he's lived with Coles who is high production but loud. Now we'll see what he does with Kendall who is lower production and apparently getting louder. I still do not understand for the life of me why the Jets did not use one of their first two picks on an offensive lineman, it was was of the few areas in the draft where you could get improvement at 25, 59 or 63 and maintain the pick's value.
Mawae was cut because he wasn't productive, was over paid and had a shitty attitude. The upgrade at center last year over Mawae in 05 was off the charts. One of the best moves this organization made.
San Francisco wants a 2nd for Smiley and they will get it when some guard goes down in training camp or a mini-camp between now and then.
Yeah, it's on a declining curve like everything else but labor issues are still easily one of the hotbuttons to get management all hot and bothered. The next CBA won't even have a franchise player clause in it because by then it will be the "meat market - come and get him" tag due to so many pissed off players holding out when it is applied.
