Ready or not, here comes the NFL season.
The New York Jets began their quest for the Vince Lombardi Trophy Thursday in Hempstead, Long Island. It's been a busy off-season for Gang Green. After a dreadful 4-12 campaign in 2007, the Jets went about retooling, to say the least.
Former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and first-round pick Jonathan Vilma was shipped to New Orleans in February. Another former No. 1 pick, Dewayne Robertson, was sent to Denver in April. The Jets also re-signed safety Kerry Rhodes to a five-year, $33.5 million extension in April and reworked Laveranues Coles' contract, guaranteeing the final two years of his deal at $11 million in March.
When the free agency period began the Jets went berserk. The Gotham Green inked Alan Faneca and Damien Woody to bolster the offensive line; linebacker Calvin Pace and tackle Kris Jenkins to strengthen the defense and fullback Tony Richardson, tight end Bubba Franks and running back Jesse Chatman to round things out.
The draft brought linebacker
Vernon Gholston, who just signed a five-year deal with $21 million guaranteed, and tight end
Dustin Keller to New York. Yep, everything looks rosy in Jets Land right now. There may even be a happy ending in sight with disgruntled tight end
Chris Baker.
But you knew all that, right? Now it's time to see what all these moves will bring in 2008.
Now on to the biggest issue at hand: Brett Favre.
I was vehemently against the Jets acquiring Favre when the rumors first began to swirl. I'll admit it -- I'm not a Brett Favre disciple. I respect him (how could you not?), but I never fell in love with him the way most of the football world has. In fact, I've seen a slew of great quarterbacks since I started watching football (I remember parts of the '82 and '83 season, but the first full year I remember is '84): Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway and more recently Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I'm not big on lists, but if I had to choose a QB for my "dream team" since I started watching the NFL, Favre would be the last guy I would pick. It's not even close. But I'm getting a bit off topic.
Now, the Jets aren't exactly set in at the quarterback position. Kellen Clemens hardly distinguished himself last season and Chad Pennington threw way too many picks (
Pennington also revealed Thursday that he played last season with two torn ligaments in his right ankle). So I allowed myself to consider it. And much to my dismay -- it made sense. On paper.
The Jets dished out a ton of cash to sure up the offensive line, but it doesn't mean anything without a solid quarterback. Favre may be on the downside of his career, but he's coming off a good season and almost led the Packers to the Super Bowl. And having Favre behind center gives defenses a lot to think about.
But then I thought some more.
Favre craves attention and playing in New York (really New Jersey, but nobody seems to care about that) would seemingly be a perfect fit. Right? Well, maybe not. Favre may walk on water in Green Bay, but I don't believe the media out here will be willing to overlook a game where he throws three interceptions or makes a ridiculous decision. Favre may not be lacking in the confidence department, but even the most hardened veterans can be affected by what the papers say. And the media will turn on you if you play poorly, no matter who you are.
Also, I realize Favre has been in the league a long time, but does anyone believe he can just step into a new situation, a new environment, with new coaches and teammates, and instantly succeed? The Jets don't run the same offense as the Packers and it's not like Favre has been working this entire off-season studying Gang Green's playbook. This isn't fantasy football or a video game where you can cherry-pick a guy and just drop him onto your team.
I also believe Eric Mangini (who's two years younger than Favre) and GM Mike Tannenbaum aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of having a traveling circus following them every day during the season.
And what if 2007 was the last hurrah for Favre? Sure, Favre had a great season last year (4,155 yards, 28 TD, 15 INT, 66% completion percentage, 95.7 QB rating), but he looked broken down and washed up in '05 and '06. Who expects Favre to improve on his numbers in '07?
The more I thought about it, the more I don't want the Jets to make a move. And it looks like all the talk about trading for Favre is just that -- talk. This
story came in as I was scribbling this. But who knows what's going on behind closed doors.
Anyway, they say always trust your first instinct. It's usually the right one.
And that's what I'm going to do.
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