Why couldn't we trade Chad and not allow him to go to the Fins? I would have taken a snickers bar for him, provided that he got out of the division. Was this even possible?
Because we needed to clear up cap space ASAP. Trading Pennington would have taken some time, which is something the Jets did not have.
Did he have to be cut before the signing? Couldn't we have waited a couple days? I'm no salary cap guru.
Well there was only a limited window to do it and the Jets actually showed some class and let him seach fro the team he felt was the best fit for him. Also, if we traded him the other team would have taken on his contract, instead of working it out how they wanted to. As for getting him out of the Division...This is not Brett Favre we are talking about...it's Chad "I love to float the out pass" Pennington.
Who was really going to trade for him? The reason Tanny said flat out when Favre was acquired that "Chad will be released or traded" was because he hoped someone would call with a 7th round pick to jump the line. The fact is, once Favre became a Jet it was clear Pennington's contract had to go. There was no leverage to negotiate with. Every team in the NFL knew the Jets would have to release him, and why give up anything for something you can get for free? Not to mention, by waiting until he was released, the new team didn't have to take on his then-current contract, and could negotiate anything they wanted. Chad would probably have been traded if Tanny had not been so focused on acquiring Favre. Then again, had he not been so focused, we wouldn't have gotten Favre.
That, and teams knew he was going to be traded or cut regardless of which it would wind up being, and so no team was going to bite and make a trade for him when they knew they would be able to sign him.
there weren't many teams interested in him, and even less (and by less I mean zero) that would have been interested in him if they had to pay his salary and trade a pick. do you honestly think teams were chomping at the bit to give up anything for Pennington? that's just downright laughable. no, we couldn't have traded him because there was no one to trade him to. this wasn't a negotiable situation. the moment we landed Favre Pennington had to be off the roster.
Actually the contract he just signed is not significantly different from the one he had with the Jets - about $6 million per year. The reason he was let go was solely because the Jets needed to clear cap space.
Yeah, even though the NFL has a "soft cap", it still requires that you clear enough cap room for a particular player before a trade or free-agent signing is officially approved. Brett would NOT have been able to take a physical with the team or use any of the team's facilities (i.e. start practicing) until the trade was officially appoved by the NFL. And the cap space had to be cleared by the end of business on thursday (the day the trade happened), otherwise it may have been voided, or at least, would have been delayed and that would have forced the jets to wait another day or so before they could get Brett into camp. (This is why Tanny kept saying that "a transaction regarding Chad will be completed by 4pm today" on the conference call where he confirmed that the Jets had traded for Favre) Since teams KNEW that the Jets were up against the clock to clear Pennington's 2008 salary from the cap, there was virtually NO CHANCE that any team was going to rush to trade with the Jets on thursday before 4pm because they KNEW that Chad was going to be released by then and would be available to get signed. (Whenever a team can avoid giving up compensation for a player, they do so)
This is Chad making an attempt to spite the Jets. I had no ill will towards him until he signed with the Phish...He could have gone somewhere to try and win, but instead he chose a shell of a team that just so happens to be one of the Jets biggest rivals. I wouldn't worry about him getting cut...I mean, what could the Jets have got for him? We got Favre for a 4th rounder with escalators in it. Chad would have gotten us a 12th rounder... I thought it was kind of mean when I heard this talk radio guy on ESPN when we got Favre, he said if Chad went to Miami the player to benefit the most would be Darelle Reivis...Now I can't wait to see the look of anger and pain after the Phish take it up the pooper in week one. Chads sad he got replaced by a HoF QB...The only hall he is getting into is the Knights of Columbus for family parties.
It was for automatic cap space. Or one could think that the Jets are a classier organization with some balls who stick to their guns when they make a decision and allow there qb to play against them in their division because they are not afraid of him.
