New York Jets Cut Corners in Acquiring Corner

So, now we find out that one game short of the Super Bowl is the moral evacuation point for the New York Jets when it comes to the formation of their roster.  Flush with the excitement of their improbable run to the AFC Championship game and desperate to fill a new stadium through a PSL extortion campaign, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum has his eye on the prize; and, seemingly, nothing else.

His first big splash of the off season was to acquire Antonio Cromartie, former first round pick and Pro Bowl cornerback, from the Chargers.  The idea of pairing Cromartie, the San Diego record holder for interceptions in a season, with Darrelle Revis, the game’s best, gave Tannenbaum the impetus to ignore the personal baggage Cromartie brings east.  Gang Green’s new defensive back has been a busy young man; fathering seven children with six women in five states; all by the age of twenty five.  With at least one paternity suit pending, the Jets felt it necessary to advance Cromartie $500K of his 2010 salary in order for him to satisfy delinquent child support payments.  They can only hope he doesn’t start dating before training camp begins.

Then, perhaps attempting to balance the miscreants on each side of the ball, Tannenbaum swooped in and grabbed wide receiver Santonio Holmes from the Steelers for a song.  Despite the fact that Holmes was the hero and MVP of Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl victory just two years ago, he became available after a March incident in which he allegedly threw a glass at a woman in a nightclub; cutting her above the eye. Then, after a Twitter comment critical of Holmes, he told the follower to “kill urself” and later Tweeted that it was time to “wake and bake”, a reference to smoking pot in the morning.

Holmes is no stranger to marijuana, having been arrested for possession in 2008.  He’s also been arrested, in 2006, on charges of domestic violence and will be suspended for the first four games of this season for an unspecified violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.  But, again, talent was the trump card and, after Pittsburgh had had enough, Tannenbaum surrendered just a paltry fifth round pick for the troubled Steeler; pairing him with Braylon Edwards, himself acquired amidst legal woes last year.

On the surface, these moves might be justified by reasoning that the Jets are on the cusp of a championship.  In reality, however, they’re little more than a .500 team that got hot at the right time; edging two playoff opponents that missed a total of five field goals. Their postseason appearance, itself, was achieved on the heels of a virtual forfeit by the Indianapolis Colts. The vaunted defense, pride and joy of Head Coach Rex Ryan, failed to stop fourth quarter drives by playoff outsiders Jacksonville and Atlanta during a regular season stretch that produced six losses in seven games. Quarterback Mark Sanchez was the league’s lowest rated starter at season’s end and has yet to begin running after off-season knee surgery while RB Thomas Jones and OG Alan Faneca, each a Pro Bowler as well as a respected team leader, were released.

Owner Woody Johnson, along with Tannenbaum, has sworn his belief that Big Rexy is enough of a “people person” to pull all of these new and questionable personalities together and unite them toward a common goal.  Best of luck to Coach Ryan, then, on that front.  However, even if this is, finally, the group that earns a Lombardi Trophy, won’t it be more than a little tainted that it was won by players no one wants to root for?