Tue May 05, 2009 8:06 am EDT Browns' Edwards to Jets for RB Thomas Jones?The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported the possibility of a future deal that would send Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards to the New York Jets for running back Thomas Jones.Responding to a question from a reader about the possibility of getting Jones from the Jets, the Plain Dealer indicated a deal including Edwards was a possibility. The report noted the Jets now have depth at running back with Leon Washington and recently drafted Shonn Greene. It also reminded everyone that Jones is unhappy with his contract in New York.It's unlikely the Jets would just cut Jones knowing he would be claimed immediately by Cleveland coach Eric Mangini, thus the possibility of a team between the two teams. Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer > http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rumors/...t=Atkf9Ua7XZG4QCMRltvAgrCQ2bYF?urn=nfl,161215 __________________
Finding a WR is still a must for the Jets by Russ H on May 6, 2009 5:12 PM EDT Remember when new Jets head coach Rex Ryan was telling anyone with a note pad and pencil how confident and comfortable he was about the Jets QB situation prior to the draft? About forty-five minutes into the draft all of that changed when the Jets moved up to the fifth overall pick and selected ex-USC QB Mark Sanchez to become the new face of the franchise. Now Ryan is telling everyone how much he likes what he's seeing from the group of players vying to round out the receiving corps for the Jets. This can only mean one thing. Who will the Jets find to play catch with Sanchez? There have been several big ticket WR's whose availability has been well known for quite some time now. The question for the Jets is are any of those WR's a good fit for their new Jet QB.Probably the best of these WR's is Arizona's Anquan Boldin. Boldin would be the #1 WR on almost any other NFL team right now but in Arizona Boldin plays alongside Larry Fitzgerald, right now the best WR in the game. Other WR's who should be on the Jets radar are Clevelands Braylon Edwards and ex-Giant Plaxico Burress.Boldin, 29, has had some difficulty staying on the field, having missed 16 out of a possible 96 games, a full season out of six, but he's averaged 81+ yards receiving per game over his career. Acquiring Boldin would no doubt cost any team a heavy price tag both in terms of compensation and in salary.Burress, 31, would become a great security blanket running under the bombs and end zone jump balls from Sanchez. He's averaged 61 yards receiving per game and unlike Boldin and Edwards Burress can be had without paying any compensation to another team for his services. Burress is a player loaded with talent but is also a player with a penchant for getting himself into trouble.Burress would no doubt be signed to a contract loaded with behavioral incentives and for far less than the five-year $35M contract extension he signed with the Giants last year.Burress is also still looking down the barrel of a possible five year prison sentence for carrying an illegal and unregistered firearm. If all of that wasn't bad enough Burress has also earned a deleterious reputation for being a poor influence in the locker room. The other prominent WR whose name has been mentioned many times as being on the trading block is the Browns WR Braylon Edwards. Edwards, 26, the youngest of the three WR's, is 6'3" 215 lbs. He has both the size and speed to be a true #1 WR. Edwards had his best season to date back in 2007 when he had 80 catches for 1,300 yards and 16 TD's. In 2008 Edwards saw his numbers slip to 55 catches for 873 yds and only 3-TD's when the Browns QB play deteriorated this past season.Toni Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes he thinks the Browns may in fact be willing to deal WR Edwards and his unhappy contract to the Jets in exchange for RB Thomas Jones and his unhappy contract plus some future considerations.The Browns drafted Ohio St. WR's Brian Robiskie and Georgia's Mohammed Massaquoi. They signed ex-Lions WR Mike Furrey and ex-Patriots WR David Patten as well as undrafted WR's Brent Casteel, Jordan Norwood and Marlon Davis. In short, the Browns are stockpiling WR's. The Jets also have a lot of bodies at the WR position but none besides Jerricho Cotchery has very much NFL experience. Next among the Jet WR's in terms of career catches is Brad Smith with 53 catches and Chansi Stuckey with 32 catches. In short after Jerricho Cotchery the Jets are very thin in terms of reliable WR's heading into training camp if things remain as they are today.If the Jets do decide to make a deal for one of the three WR's mentioned above they should stay away from Plaxico Burress because his excess baggage far exceeds his talent. Anquan Boldin is the best player of the three but Arizona will want a lot for him in return and I don't see how the Jets can possibly afford Boldin's demands for a big contract extension after taking into consideration the Jets new salary cap with their new $20M QB. The Jets could probably put together a talent package good enough to get Edwards here. Thomas Jones is due a $3M roster bonus in 2010 if he is still with the Jets, which means Jones last season with the Jets is either already in the books or will be at the close of the upcoming season. Mangini is said to be a big fan of Jones and his work ethic. If Tannenbaum is convinced that the Brian Westbrook light (Leon Washington) and newly drafted ex-Iowa RB Shonne Green can carry the load at the RB spot this year then Thomas Jones becomes expendable now instead of next year and should be dealt before a possible holdout starts Rex Ryans' first training camp off on the wrong foot.If the Jets feel the compensation is too high for Edwards they should take a long hard look at Marvin Harrison. His skills may not be what they once were but his veteran leadership and skills as a WR can't do anything but help all the younger WR's on the Jets and he'd stop the defense from doubling up on Cotchery all the time, keeping the opponents defense honest.The Jets have spent all kinds of money and invested multiple draft picks into many different spots on their roster, it makes no sense to leave one important part of the roster with such a gaping hole after paying such close attention to so many other fine details. The Jets need to go get a WR, they don't need to blow up next years draft to get one but if things work out like the Jets hope next years first round draft pick should be a lot closer to the bottom of the first round then to the top. > http://www.ganggreennation.com/2009/5/6/866737/finding-a-wr-is-still-a-must-for
Posted: Monday May 11, 2009 8:55AM; Updated: Monday May 11, 2009 12:23PM Peter King > MONDAY MORNING QB Pats, Steelers, Giants ... Bears? How 32 teams stack up right now You'll find one very predictable thing in common with every top team in my annual Tick Off Half The Football Fans In America Post-Free-Agency, Post-Draft NFL Power Rankings: quarterbacks. The best teams have 'em. The worst teams don't, at least not that we can see yet. Look at the top dozen teams. Every one has a quarterback you wouldn't be shocked to see playing deep into the playoffs this year. It's still 11 weeks before most teams enter training camp, but the personnel hay is in the barn for almost every team. Maybe Anquan Boldin gets dealt; maybe Brett Favre comes back (more on him in 10 Things). But there won't be much major roster-tweaking before the camp begins. So here we go, 1 to 32, with a surprise or two, starting at number four: ~ ~ 16. New York Jets They were 8-3 last year after 12 weeks with a quarterback playing well but not great, and they only fell off the face of the earth because Favre couldn't throw well down the stretch. The key will be whether Mark Sanchez can adapt to Brian Schottenheimer's offense and digest it in time to play very early, like opening day. Because what coach Rex Ryan is aiming for is clear. Speaking of Ryan, the Jets will be a fun team to watch because he's going to make some lesser lights shine in roles they've never played before. It's a fun defense, and his troops will eat it up. I could see the Jets anywhere between 6-10 and 11-5. > http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/05/10/may11/index.html
Sanchez, the face we're looking for ? by Xander Diaz on May 14, 2009 - 9:32 AM EDT During the offseason it's easy for football fans to start harping on any available topic, beating it to death simply because there's not much out there to talk about. We've seen this go into overdrive recently with any and all Favre talk because it's easy for everyone to have an opinion. Opinions create attitude which, in turn, makes for interesting interactions.As a Jets fan, it is easy to get caught up in a situation like the Favre retirement and trade rumors because we were in the thick of it all last year (and we've had a hand in it this year). What we've learned from that is this - attention is good even if it's bad! It's a variation of the old saying "No publicity is bad publicity". Why? Because everyone craves attention no matter how much it bothers them. Here in Jets Fandom, getting attention was a little like winning the lottery: you know it happens, it just happens to other people. Even in the media-crazy NY Metro area, the Jets were nonexistent. The daily news media would go on and on in their coverage of the Giants, Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and hell, the NY Post even covered horse racing! Yet the Jets barely received a nod. They not only play in the same market as the NY Giants, but they share the exact same stadium! You would think it would be difficult to not be mentioned and yet...nary a peep except for the occasional "same old Jets" comment.So when Woody made the move of a lifetime and traded for Brett-freakin-Favre, all of a sudden the Jets existed! They were relevant! That singular acquisition turned around an entire franchise in a hot NY minute! Out of nowhere the Jets were media darlings! They were being mentioned at every opportunity, and not just in the NY Metro area, but all over the sports-loving world. This media attention continued even in losing! In this context, the horrific fade down the stretch and failure to take the team to the playoffs last year didn't matter because the media was still believing in the Jets. They were being mentioned in talks regarding the best of the division! It's like they were on equal footing with their media brother rather than being the bastard stepchild, locked away in the attic and spoken about in hushed tones or (more likely) with a smirk.And this brings us to where the Jets are today: to Mark Sanchez and the second coming of a franchise savior. The Jets had no choice but to go after him in the draft, not just because they needed a QB, but because they needed a face for the franchise. They needed someone who could bring hope and glory to the fans and keep the attention from fading. Of course he's unproven and this could turn out to be another bust, but this kid has shown surprising poise and charisma in the media spotlight and that alone is worth giving him the chance. Think about it this way, we're talking about a team that highlighted Wayne Chrebet jerseys! We all know he was a helluva' player but c'mon, he wasn't a franchise marquee player by any stretch. But what other jersey was there to buy? Who was the face of the franchise ? You can only get by for so long with that faded throwback Namath jersey, waiting desperately for a superstar to join your team. So is it any wonder that Favre jerseys were the best seller at Jets stadium the minute they went on sale? No. Of course not. But once he left the team, it left fans with that same old gaping hole. This is the destiny for Mark Sanchez to fulfill. Whether he is ready to be a savior or not...the fans and the franchise need him to be. > http://www.ganggreennation.com/2009/5/14/875087/sanchez-the-face-were-looking-for
Braylon has been in the top three in the NFL in drops for a few years running. He is the poster boy for great one play and awful the next. Not exactly waht I want for my #1 wideout.
Clemens or Sanchez ? May 18, 2009 at 08:11 p.m. 02:41 ? Jets OC Brian Schottenheimer breaks down film on QBs Kellen Clemens and Mark Sanchez. > http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-york-jets/09000d5d810642f4/Clemens-or-Sanchez
Updated: May 22, 2009, 1:37 PM ET Edwards prefers to remain with Browns ESPN.com news services > http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4198510
Jets' young receivers slow to catch on By Matt Sohn - May 29, 2009 Fostering offensive rhythm has been tough for the Jets, in no small part because of the wide receivers. The young corps has spent OTAs living up to doom-and-gloomers? prognostications that the lack of proven experience on the outside will keep the offense grounded. Even though it?s expected that defenses be ahead of offenses throughout the NFL at this point in the offseason, Rex Ryan?s ?D? has thrown the offense completely out of sync. The wideouts are finding it difficult to read the coverages thrown at them, and we?re hearing there have been an inordinate number of dropped passes during the sessions. However, one of the few inspiring nuggets in the WR saga is the emerging play of third-year vet Chansi Stuckey. Even though he lacks David Clowney?s breakaway speed, Stuckey not only has been the most consistent of the youngsters but has also shown the most big-play glimpses. He stands as the early favorite to start opposite Jerricho Cotchery. > http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/NY+Jets/WWHI/2009/wwhi052909.htm
Sharks can't handle Twisters, Harper Arkansas WR makes 14 catches for 275 yards, 8 TDs erick quintero Special to the Caller-Times / Sunday, May 31, 2009 ~ ~ Harper, a :beer:New York Jets:beer: prospect according to team officials, was a one man show hauling in eight touchdowns for 275 yards on 14 receptions. > http://www.caller.com/news/2009/may/31/sharks-cant-handle-twisters-harper/
