1) Let the pay cuts begin- In an effort to control costs during the lockout the New York Jets announced that they will be reducing the salaries of all contract employees, including head coach Rex Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum, by 25%. In addition all non-contract employees will be asked to take a one week per month unpaid furlough. If a new CBA is reached without any games being missed, the money will be refunded to the employees.
Note: The New York Giants at this point have not announced any cut backs.
2) Ticket money to be refunded without interest- The New York Jets announced that they will offer season ticket holders refunds for games missed due to the lockout. The refund will not include any type of accrued interest.
3) Jets nominated for “Team of the Year”- The New York Jets have been nominated by the Sports Business Journal Daily as the “Professional Sports Team of the Year.” Other nominees include the Orlando Magic, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the San Francisco Giants, and Chip Ganassi Racing. Details behind the nomination were not offered by SBJD.
4) Players to boycott the Draft? The NFL players union is trying to put a plan in place where the top college prospects boycott appearing at the upcoming draft. Glad to see things are going well with the negotiations. But then again I still do not understand how the teams are going to draft when free agency has not even been ironed out yet.
5) Tiki to the Jets? There has been some early speculation that former Giants running back Tiki Barber could be on the Jets radar. Knowing the Jets front office I would expect them to “kick the tires” on Barber, but there is no way he is signed. Gang Green already has a solid stable of backs (Tomlinson, McKnight, Greene) and does not need the distraction that is Tiki Barber. You just know he has some type of reality show built around his return.