According to Newsday....

According to Newsday we are seriously considering packaging the 2 first rounders to get Leinart. I know this has been talked about, but now that we actually have the ammunition to get him, should we?

BY KEN BERGER
Newsday Staff Writer

March 22, 2006
John Abraham got what he wanted. Now, the Jets are in position to do the same.

In a move that was anticipated for weeks, but not quite like this, the Jets traded Abraham to the Falcons on Tuesday night in a creative, three-way deal also involving the Broncos.

"He's happy, he's relieved," Abraham's agent Rich Rosa said. " ... More than anything, John realized it's a business. The Jets gave him an opportunity to be comfortable and very happy."

Abraham, 27, will be as comfortable as he pleases with a six-year, $45-million contract to play in Atlanta, only 280 miles from the one-stoplight town of Lamar, S.C., where he grew up.

The Broncos rescued the Jets and Falcons from their stalemate over Abraham, agreeing to send their first-round pick, No. 29, to the Jets. The Falcons traded their first-round pick, No. 15, to Denver, and Atlanta also got a middle-round pick in each of the next two drafts. Those picks are believed to come from the Broncos.

The situation was complicated, and might never have been resolved without a third party. By virtue of receiving the Jets' franchise tag, Abraham could not be traded without agreeing to a contract with another team.

He agreed to contract terms with the Falcons on Friday, but the Jets wanted to trade him to Seattle because the Seahawks made a better trade offer: their first-round pick, No. 31. The Falcons initially were only willing to give up a second-rounder.

Abraham's agents, Tony Agnone and Rosa, resisted doing business with Seattle because Abraham wanted to play in Atlanta. In a free-agency system that robs franchise players of leverage, Agnone and Rosa wound up playing their hand exactly right.

History may show that the Jets did, too. With the 29th pick to go with their fourth selection in the first round, general manager Mike Tannenbaum now has the ammunition he needs to move up as high as No. 2 to select a quarterback, presumably USC's Matt Leinart. Get those No. 11 jerseys ready, Jets fans.

Indications have been strengthening for weeks that the Jets are giving serious consideration to drafting a quarterback in the first round. The first sign came when word filtered out to agents of top-level free-agent quarterbacks that the Jets no longer were interested in going that direction this offseason.

Instead of committing multi-year money to a veteran such as Jon Kitna, Brian Griese or Josh McCown, the Jets traded for the Redskins' Patrick Ramsey, who has one year left on his contract.

With a one-year insurance policy in place for Chad Pennington, who is recovering from his second right shoulder operation in as many offseasons, the Jets are in position to select his replacement in the draft. Early signs point to Leinart, the wavy-haired, two-time national champion who has all the star power to make it in New York.

Abraham made three Pro Bowls with the Jets, who made him the first of an unprecedented haul of four first-round picks in 2000, the last Jets draft overseen by Bill Parcells. Abraham came a long way from his small-town South Carolina roots, recording double-digit sacks in four of his six seasons.

But he also failed to finish three of those seasons because of injury, and was arrested in 2003 on charges of driving while intoxicated. He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of driving while impaired, but was forced to enter the NFL's substance abuse program.

The Abraham situation stagnated over the past weekend, with the possibility emerging at one point that Abraham could wind up back with the Jets despite his anger over the team's unwillingness to commit to him with a long-term contract. But there was no way his agents were going to leave that much money on the table, or squander the chance for Abraham to play near his mother, grandmother and daughter in South Carolina.

Abraham's contract includes $15.5 million in signing and reporting bonuses this season. The guaranteed money totals $18 million, and Abraham is due to make just shy of $26 million in the first three years.