New York Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum held a conference call with reporters Wednesday, a day after acquiring the 29th overall selection from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for defensive end John Abraham. Tannenbaum delivered an opening statement before taking questions. "Last month, we worked with several players to restructure their contracts," he said. "Without going into too much detail, the moves were made for two primary reasons: first we were able to retain some of our core players who we feel can make a strong contribution to the team, and in addition it gave us some flexibility under the salary cap as we moved into free agency." With that flexibility the Jets have made several offseason moves. The latest was announced this afternoon when Tannenbaum said the Jets had reached agreement with WR-KR Tim Dwight. He talked about each player new to the Green & White roster and also discussed yesterday?s blockbuster deal: Patrick Ramsey ?"We feel that he has significant untapped upside in his ability. He has had valuable experience in this league. He?s smart, he?s team-oriented. I think he will mesh well with the program, and he?ll come in and compete for a position. Kimo von Oelhoffen ? "Kimo was a key member of the Pittsburgh defense that helped the Steelers win the Super Bowl. He?s tough, he?s consistent, he gives maximum effort, and he?s a leader on and off the field." Matt Chatham ? "Matt is a versatile player, somebody who was with Coach Mangini on the three Super Bowl winning teams with the Patriots. He knows the system. He will increase the competitiveness at the linebacker position, and he?ll be a key special teams player for us." Tim Dwight ? "I am also happy to announce that we have signed Tim Dwight. Tim gives us a punt returner and we also feel like he gives us a different type of receiver. He creates speed for the game and adds a change of pace element to our receiving group." Trade ? "When we placed the franchise tag on John, we were fully prepared for him to remain a Jet. But when a trade was in the works, we made it clear to all parties that we were going to do whatever deal was in our best interest. In the end, we think the trade worked out best for everybody. We are very pleased with the compensation from Atlanta as well as through Denver. We?re happy for John that he can move on and be with a team that he can have success with. I want to thank John for his valuable contributions to the team over the last few years, and I wish him and his family well." The Jets were prepared to have Abraham on the team if he signed the franchise tender, but the club did not have any long-term contract negotiations with the three-time All Pro. "We did franchise John. We had the intent that he would be here, playing on the franchise tender for this year," Tannenbaum said. "We felt like that was in the best interest of the team for the 2006 season. We were not prepared to anything more than that economically." The Jets now own eight selections in April?s draft and they could pick up more next week. "We have two number one selections and three selections in the top 35," said Tannenubaum. "We have two fours. We?ll see what happens next week with compensatory picks when we are at the league meetings."
It feels so strange to finally have complete confidence in our front office. Mike T has shown me a lot so far.
I love how damn boring these guys are. It reminds me of Bull Durham, when Crash tells the rookie to memorize his cliches: "you play them one game at a time", "I'm just trying to help the team." The Tangini cliche: "he's a smart, tough, versatile player, on and off the field."
Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean it negatively. In fact, I like it. They're giving the media nothing to go with, staying very vanilla, not tipping their hand in any way. Some of these dumb-ass coaches/GMs say things like "we really think this guys solves our need in this area, so we can address other needs in the draft." I don't think we'll ever see that from Tangini...
I was hoping to hear things like "you play to win the game," "you got to sweep the corners," the overuse of the word "obviously" as in "obviously, we're trying to win the game" or "obviously, he's a good player" or "obviously, I have no clue what I'm doing." Seriously, thanks for the post FITM. Good stuff.
good info glad to see we have some backbone, but would have liked to hold out a little longer for the 15....
This is how a front office should sound. You're not putting on a show for the media. Keep quiet and before you know it, you're not wasting picks to trade up because you let the whole world know who you were interested in drafting, months before the draft.
What gets me that is so different than when Bradway or Herm spoke is it truly sounds like Tangini formulated a well thought out plan and are executing it with almost sugical precision. What a difference.
Here's an interesting AP article NEW YORK (AP) _ Now that the Jets have two first-round picks, they might consider using them to make a trade in the draft next month. Though general manager Mike Tannenbaum wouldn't discuss the team's strategy heading into the draft, he said the organization has added flexibility with two No. 1s. The Jets have the No. 4 overall pick and acquired the No. 29 selection from Atlanta in exchange for Pro Bowl defensive end John Abraham. ``Having flexibility, there are some scenarios that are out there,'' Tannenbaum said Wednesday on a conference call. ``Similar to previous drafts, we'll see what opportunities are presented to ourselves. We can package them and move up or we can move back if we feel that's appropriate.'' Speculation has centered around the Jets making a deal with New Orleans to move up to the No. 2 spot and take Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart. Even though the Jets traded for Patrick Ramsey to challenge Chad Pennington for the starting job, the Jets might want to draft a franchise quarterback to pilot the team for the future. Ramsey only has one year left on his contract, and Pennington is up in the air because he is coming off his second major operation on his right shoulder. ``There's a lot of speculation out there,'' Tannenbaum said. ``Our college scouts have done a great job of evaluating a lot of these players. We'll be prepared when the draft arrives. We've looked at some scenarios already.'' Pennington is back at the team's practice facility in Hempstead, participating in the offseason program. Tannenbaum said the Jets have 100 percent participation from every player under contract. Pennington had been rehabbing in Sarasota, Fla., but vowed to return to New York for the program. Though Tannenbaum didn't say whether Pennington was throwing, the quarterback said March 5 he had already begun tossing the football. The Abraham deal was made official Wednesday after the league approved it. Atlanta and Denver swapped No. 1 picks so the Falcons could get their man. Tannenbaum said he was sorry to see Abraham go, but was happy with the deal. Abraham wanted out because the team refused to give him a long-term deal, instead placing the franchise tag on him for the second straight year. The Jets didn't want to pay him the money he wanted because he has a history of getting hurt and were satisfied with placing the one-year, $8.33 million tag on him. He also was arrested for drunken driving in 2003, causing the team to question his character. ` `If they're living in the past, they're living in the past,'' Abraham said on a conference call from Atlanta. ``That's all you can say. We're trying to worry about the present and the future. To keep talking about it my whole career ... if they want to live with that situation, it's fine with me. I'm moving on. I'm happy with where I'm at, I can't get mad at anything right now.'' The Jets now have an additional $8.33 million on the salary cap because Abraham is gone. But they haven't made a huge splash during free agency. Aside from getting Ramsey, the Jets have signed linebacker Matt Chatham, defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen and receiver/kick returner Tim Dwight.
...I think the duo that the so called experts said would be too inexperienced and that GM's around the league would be lining up to fleece them at every turn, so far have been served notice that this organization is not going to be made fools of anymore. It is such a great feeling that your team is being run by competant people. Not bad for a couple guys in way over their head...
Yes, i agree, a real good job so far. I wonder if we'll see anything really dynamic in FA.........since we are now an additional 8 Mil under with Abe gone?
so far so good for this regime. I can't fault them at all for the moves they've made so far. Am just waiting to see how they approach this draft and maybe it's just me but had I been a reporter I would have asked him what they plan on doing with robertson. I mean as it stands right now he won't be a starter if we stay with a base 3-4. Hopefully mangina will keep our D a hybrid 3-4, 4-3 if they plan on using robertson.
Ny Times claims Tannenbaum said Jets more likely to move up than select 29th http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/23/sports/football/23nfl.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Ny Times claims Tannenbaum said Jets more likely to move up than select 29th pick
