Enough is Enough

By Tyson Rauch

In 2006 the New York Jets decided to overhaul their front office and coaching staff in order to send their franchise in a different direction. 

As with every regime change in the NFL, the new front office/management team led by Mike Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini decided to change the culture of the organization and establish their own principles.  The new leadership team often labeled “Tangini� implemented their core values, which consisted of being a smart, disciplined and tough football team, which was music to the ears of the gang green fan base.  These new principles were deemed successful as the Jets record improved to 10-6 and they qualified for the playoffs.  Now in year two, this front office tandem is facing a couple of issues that appear to challenge what their principles are all about.

The first situation is dealing with a veteran player that is valuable to the team both on the field and in the locker room.  This player, offensive lineman Pete Kendall, played a huge role in the development of the younger lineman on the team and was voted to be one of the team captains on offense.  Mr. Kendall has asked the Jets for a one million dollar pay raise to compensate for the services and flexibility he provided in the past.  The front office has decided that Kendall is not worth the money he is requesting and therefore a stalemate has begun.  Since the Jets are not willing to pay him what he feels he deserves, Pete has asked that team either trades him away or releases him out of his contract.  The New York Jets have decided to not pay him more, release or trade him but rather have him attend practice and go through the motions.  As one can imagine this has led to a somewhat hostile situation that will not only affect the parties involved but the rest of the team. 

At what point is better for the sake of the team to just move on from the situation and get rid of the player?  It appears the Jets are trying to display their power and control over the team and its players but at what point does it do the opposite and just come off as arrogance and stupidity? If you are not going to compensate the player and he is not willing to play under his current contract, is it worth jeopardizing team camaraderie and chemistry to prove a point of power?  At this point the bridge has been blown up and the point of no return has been passed. Why not just get release the player in the most cost effective manner? Seems to me to be the smart thing to do, which of course is one of the team’s core principles.

The second scenario deals with a rookie player that was drafted in the first round by the New York Jets. This player, Darrelle Revis, a highly touted cornerback is looking to receive a five year deal which mimics the contracts received by the majority of the players in the first round.  The Jets are pushing for Revis to sign a six-year deal, which would be more financially beneficial to the organization.  Darrelle has decided to not accept the offer and is in the process of holding out from training camp and missing valuable conditioning and practice time.  So once again the front office is holding a strong stance and displaying its hard line over the player. But at what point will this be counter productive? The longer the player is out of camp, the less likely he will be to make an immediate impact on the team.  The longer he is out of camp the longer he will take to learn and adapt to the speed of the NFL as well as develop chemistry with his defensive mates. 

Would it be so bad for the Jets to negotiate a contract that is similar to what other NFL teams are offering? Would that not be the smart thing to do to help the team this year and avoid future distractions?  At some point even the hardest of stances need to be flexible to do what is best for the organization.  Points can be made that do not always have to be dramatic.  Get this deal done already and put the focus back on the field where it should be.
Parting Shots:

1. Why is it that there are next to no reports on Anthony Schlegel?
2. Will Brad Smith be the new jack of all trades, master of none? For some reason I would like to see him make his mark at WR but that is just me.
3. Vilma has been receiving glowing remarks from Eric Mangini, does this mean he could be following Kerry Rhodes with a contract extension?