you mean a late release, dont you? thats because he is blocking, this isnt that hard of a concept to grasp.
Coles' contract was not "upped" is was guaranteed. He has 2 years left on his contract, so they guaranteed the base salary as well as his bonuses. The value was not changed at all. And more than likely it was agreed upon to revisit the situation after 2 years.
Size and speed matters for a TE. If you have neither, you don't get separation, and your QB doesn't throw to you. Baker has neither. Franks has size and Keller has speed. We had crappy o-lines during Baker's career? Other than 2005 and 2007 he was working with a top 10 o-line. And for that matter he had his best year with the worst o-line of his career. Baker is an overrated blocker. People like to say he stayed home a lot this past season to help the o-line. How did that work out for our QB's? When Becht was here people dismissed Baker as a blocker just as people are dismissing Keller as a blocker. Am I expecting a lot out of Keller? Well, he was a first round pick and the first receiver taken overall. I sure as hell expect a lot out of him.
baker has decent size and decent speed with good hands. franks and keller are the opposites of baker at both ends of your extremes. keller is faster, but unproven, and may become another jet tightend debacle. franks may play 10 downs and be done for the year. baker played well last season, and was one of the few semi bright spots on the roster last season. baker sat behind becht(who couldnt catch a cold), and our line had one great year during bakers career.(martins last big year). becht was a much better blocker than franks, hell thats what has kept him in the NFL, so baker sat. our team had a different offensive approach under herm so why use the past? i hope not but if you are looking for keller to play a huge part in our offensive sucess in 2008, you might be let down. i'm saying if anything you keep baker and drop kowaloski. give baker his money you promised and move on. use the best on the roster, even if you pay a little more..
Baker is caught between a rock and a hard place and doesn't like it. The timing sucks and unlike the Kendall situation there are players to fill the void so the threat is hollow. I think they will let him cry and scream all he wants to no avail. Plain and simple, Baker needs to play this year for two reasons. 1) He has to show what he's made of against a #1 pick and a proven veteran to keep his job and then possibly secure a pay raise. 2) He is under contract to stay as is. To be honest he is hurting his stock by doing this and in my eyes showing he is somewhat afraid of getting beat out by the new guys. He needs to cut his losses here and focus on beating out Franks and Keller. Faneca did the same thing to the Steelers and they played him. Then when it was over he left. Except Faneca was a pro-bowler with plenty of suiters. Baker needs to seriously tell whoever is giving him advice to shut it.
I think that is the crux of the matter, and I think it is further cemented by comments one of CB's agents made shortly after the draft, about how the Jets drafted TE in the first so they think the Jets should trade him... Edit: Here ya go: http://forums.theganggreen.com/showpost.php?p=838166&postcount=35 "If the Jets feel like they've drafted Chris' replacement, it seems like it would make sense for them to try and trade him and get some value," said Jonathan Feinsod, who has already requested a trade for his client. It's diplomatic, but the message is there.
Baker cannot get separation, so his decent size and decent speed are meaningless. Franks is a better blocker and red zone threat. Keller is faster with even better hands, and can stretch the field better. We had a top 10 calibre line in 2002-2004 and 2006. Nobody promised Baker more money, period. His former agent supposedly told Baker they would have a look at his contract. They in fact did have a look at it, and added a year to it this past december.
you are missing the point. you are comparing players and not team needs. baker is worth keeping and will be a starter on another team...aka pete kendall! management gave coles what he wanted, which can turn into a bigger problem monetarily (like chrebet and martin).give baker kowalkoski's money and keep him. how hard is it to understand?
You simply do not reward average players on 4-12 teams with new contracts because they start bitching and moaning. It would be completely retarded to do that. What would that tell players if you did? Any starter at any time can start bitching and moaning and get more money. Well if we set that precedent, why wouldn't every starter do it?
thats what management said last year, along with a few on this board. baker is our second best receiving TE, and second best blocking TE.
I think the Jets should let him (hopefully) rack up the fines and then offer him an extension equal to the total amount of the fines. If Chris Baker pulls this crap and gets more money, who's next, the flag dudes?
When he's not blocking genius. You really have no clue about any of this do you? You probably invested in a Chris Baker jersey and are afraid to let it go :rofl:
Just compare this to Pennington's situation. Supposedly his agent asked at the combine if they were interested in trading him and was told no. That's the last you heard of it until the OTA's started and he mentioned it in passing. What has he done since then? Embraced the challenge and competition. He could have gone whining to the press at each interview and just annointed Clemens the starter and gave up. Instead, he's buckling his chinstrap and fighting for his job like a true competitor would. Deep down he probably knows he's not the future, but if he's going down, he's going down fighting. Chris Baker, on the other hand, is pretty much just giving up and trying to force his way out. If he wants to be paid as the top TE on this team, then STFU, go out, do your damn job, and beat the other TE's that were brought in. He should just look himself in the mirror and say "no way they're taking my job" and go out and bust his ass. Is he doing that? By all accounts, no. He's too busy sulking on the stationary bike.
give me a break, he does fine against teams when he is allowed to run a route. you people are so caught up in the mangini view of things you cant see potential for blind devotion. i do not own a jersey, but i do see the team need compared to the big gambling that our front office has already dished out. i can see it is pointless to argue, think what you may. when franks is hurt and keller isnt getting it done on the line, we can always fall back on the sure thing......"kowalla"wski. baker would have been nice then i bet.
I am not the one missing the point or having trouble understanding. As I said, Baker would not start on half the teams in football, and would have to compete for a starting position on the rest. Management did not give Coles what he wanted. They offered to guarantee his final 2 years salary, Coles wanted a contract extension. Coles complained briefly but quickly accepted the Jets initial offer. It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of principle. At best, the FO said they would look at Baker's deal after the 2007 season. They did FFS! They gave Baker a 1 year contract extension. He signed it. 6 MONTHS AGO. Why in gods name would he think they would renegotiate again so soon, with no football having been played since he just signed a new deal? The only reason he's complaining is because the FO brought in Franks and gave him the same money as Baker. His overrated ass can spend the entire season on the bench for all I care.
What's obvious about that comment is that it is totally speculative and that's what is being used to fuel this circus? That's a big 2 letter word. 'IF'. It's a weak diplomatic move if you ask me. All Tanny has been quoted saying is that Baker will be a Jet in '08. And I'm hoping the Jets didn't fine him for something undeserved. I doubt it but the signal from the FO is clear. He should let it die and I hope he is not stupid enough to keep this up in camp. He will get his touches.
Pennington knows that his best shot to start is here. He wasn't going anywhere. And I totally agree with you about him fighting for his job. He is more of a football player than Baker ever will be. He has the heart of a Doug Flutie. He wants to play. There is no comparison between them in that regard.
