Coles got the 11 million guaranteed from the end of his deal but no extension on the contract.

The man is a warrior and the definition of what it means to play mentally tough. Do I think he should’ve gotten the extension? Not right now, getting the money guaranteed will help get him focused to play this year. Letting Coles go by either cutting him or trading him would weaken the receiving corps.

Coles is the heart of that wide receiving corps and keeping him around is big thing for the team.

Do they need a deep-threat wide receiver? Yes…

A league source is reporting that Laveranues Coles and the Jets have “compromised” by guaranteeing the final two years of Coles’s contract at $11 million but not extending it. Except, by all accounts that was what the Jets had offered weeks ago and Coles turned it down. Why would he accept it now? He’s not getting any extra years or money. It just ensures that he won’t be cut, which he probably wouldn’t have been anyway unless he suffered a bad injury.

For a guy that’s been so vocal about mistreatment, I’m surprised he would take a deal that’s been on the table for a while. And then try to pass it off as a compromise.  

The Daily News is reporting that Laveranues Coles and the Jets are close to the extension the receiver has been seeking. If all goes smoothly it could be done as early as tomorrow. The report doesn’t disclose years or numbers.Coles just reported to the offseason conditioning program on Monday, a week after it began. He’d been boycotting it as a protest of his contract situation. The fact that he had a quick change of heart suggested something was up behind the scenes. Unless the team had at least opened negotiations on a new deal he wouldn’t have just shrugged and showed up.It looks like his game of hardball paid off. He’d been very vocal for months about his unhappiness, clearly trying to bully his way to a commitment beyond the two years and $11 mil he has left. Normally the organization likes loud protest as much as a gift basket from Bill Belichick. But Tangini seems to be backing down and giving in. First they offered to guarantee that $11 mil. Now this.How do you feel about Coles getting his extension? Should he have gotten paid? And how about the fact that it ensures he’ll be a Jet for years to come at No. 1 money? 

Great article here by Mike Tanier of FootballOutsiders.com about the signings of Faneca and Woody. He dives deep into the numbers to show just how bad the Jets O-line was last year and how those two will affect far more than their two positions. 

For example, the Jets allowed 13 uncontested sacks last year (think Jason Taylor straight at the quarterback), tied for most in the league. When a pass rusher is untouched the quarterback has zero chance of making a play or even getting rid of the ball. Brian Schottenheimer also called for more runs to go up the middle or to the right than any other offensive coordinator. This article paints Brandon Moore in a very favorable light, suggesting he was the most trusted lineman. You can’t argue with all those runs to the right.

Of course that made the Jets running game too predictable. Linebackers aren’t dumb. If they see Thomas Jones constantly turning right they’re going to shade right. Which makes the running game even more ineffective. No wonder Jones had 1100 yards.

I think Tanier is right on the money about how the line play will affect everyone else. I’m a big believer in the power of a good O-line. Everybody accuses the Jets of lacking playmakers, but how can they make plays when they don’t have holes/time. Average receivers/quarterbacks/halfbacks look very good behind a good line and very bad behind a bad one. When the QB has time to throw, he makes plays. You’ll see Laveranues Coles catch 80 balls this year and read all these stories about how he’s happy with his new contract or he developed chemistry with Clemens. That’s bunk. Blocking = production. It’s the single biggest factor in the success of an offense.

Ok.. I know I’m a little late on this but I have to ask a serious question to ask. Why did the Jets sign Bubba Franks? What’s going to be his purpose? The organization took the time to work Chris Baker into a pass catching tight end and he’s a pretty good one; now you bring in Franks? I don’t know about the rest of you guys but I really don’t see the necessity. If you all give me a viable reason, I’m willing to be swayed.Now the other deal that to me is a little bit of a head scratcher is the move for Tony Richardson. I guess I can see it but if they really wanted a veteran full back; why did the Jets get rid of Gerald Sowell? He did a heck of a job for a lot of years for the Jets.Maybe with some of these moves, is it too much to ask for Brian Schottenheimer to bring the play-action pass back into the offensive repertoire?But I still want to pose this question, playing GM for a minute, with all of the free-agent moves, where would you go with that sixth pick?

It’s not often you see a three-time Pro Bowler as the second tight end in a two tight end set. That’s what the Jets will have after bringing Daniel Lamont Franks (his friends call him Bubba) aboard on a one-year, $1.65 mil deal. He’ll back up Chris Baker to form a potentially dangerous receiving duo.

Franks was a star in his early career with Green Bay, becoming one of Brett Favre’s favorite red zone targets. He caught 27 touchdowns in a four-year span from 2001-04 during which he made three Pro Bowls. (The Jets have now made seven offseason signings; five are former Pro-Bowlers.) He has been in a slow decline since. Last year a torn knee ligament cost him eight games and produced a career-low 18 catches. Donald Lee made him expendable, so Green Bay cut him.

The first thing I thought when the Jets signed him was how I wanted him in the 2000 draft. That was the year they had four picks (Nos. 12, 13, 18, and 27) and needed a tight end. Franks, out of Miami, was the consensus top TE. The Jets ended up taking Shaun Ellis and John Abraham at 12 and 13, leaving the Pack to snatch Bubba at 14. The Jets filled the TE hole with Anthony Becht at 27. Becht is one of my least favorite Jets ever, due mostly to his habit of falling down instantly after making a catch. Bubba could have saved us the agony of watching Becht get tackled by cornerbacks half his size. So maybe it’s eight years too late, but we finally got him.

Obviously the folks in Tennessee’s front office don’t get the NFL Sunday Ticket. If they did they never would have signed Justin McCareins. Anyone who saw McCareins with the Jets knows that he can’t help a winning football team. He’s slow, not a great route runner, and he’s blessed with worse hands than Captain Hook.

One year for $1 mil is a small committment. It’s still 11 months and $950,000 too much. If he’s anything but a No. 5 insurance receiver the Titans are in trouble.

Most of the time when free agents come to a bad team they’re looking to improve it. Jesse Chatman’s already picked up three wins by signing with the J-E-T-S. 

Chatman, a fifth-year running back, agreed to a one-year contract yesterday. It’s unclear whether he came for the money, the connections (he worked with Brian Schottenheimer in San Diego), or to escape the stinking fish carcass that was Dolphin football ‘07. You’ll recall that the Fins won one game — a tiny ray of light in a rough season for Jet fans.

Chatman is coming off a career season of 515 yards rushing on 128 attempts. That works out to 4.0 yards a carry, which is nothing to write home about. Unless you’re Jesse Chatman, in which case you’re writing home every day. (Mom, guess what, I had 60 yards today!) The two years before that were wasted seasons. He was inactive in 2005, then sat out 2006. We’re not talking Ricky Williams sitting out where a guy can still play. He just wasn’t in shape. It’s great that he got his career back on track to start in the NFL, but I’m not that comfortable with the Jets taking a flier on him.

Whatever. It’s only a one-year deal. And he’s the third-string back behind TJ and Washington. The bigger problem is that it sends a strong message about the Jets not drafting McFadden. Unless they trade TJ there’s no way they’ll carry four RBs on the roster, all of whom expect to touch the ball. McFadden might not have been there at 6 but if he was I don’t see how you can ignore the consensus best player in the draft. This is what happened to Adrian Peterson. Everyone ignores him because they don’t need a RB, then he goes for 7,000 yards his first season and you get 100 articles on how he slipped through the cracks.

Even if the Jets never planned on taking him, they could have faked it and traded the pick for high value to a team that covets him (i.e. Dallas). Now Dallas knows the Jets won’t take him and it knows Kansas City won’t take him at No. 5 because of Larry Johnson. So if Oakland passes on McFadden at No. 4, Jerry Jones can trade a ton of stuff to New England at No. 7 for their pick. Which New England would be willing to do. According to many reports, the Patriots like Vernon Gholston and would move down in the draft if he was gone. You figure there’s a good chance Gholston goes to the Jets at No. 6. So now our arch-enemy New England gets to load up all because we signed Chatman. 

Yes, it’s all hypothetical. But entirely plausible. 

At least one Jet is happy with the recent flurry of signings.

“I‘ll tell you what — I’m pumped up, man. I’m pumped up with  the moves we’re making. I feel like they’re good moves,” Jerricho Cotchery said. “I always felt like [Mike] Tannenbaum and Coach Mangini knew what they were doing.” 

It’s crazy that there’s even a need to point this out. Shouldn’t everybody be thrilled? Cleveland is the only team that can even make a case for having improved as much as the Jets. Anyone who’s going to be here next year ought to be excited about the potential turnaround. But after those anonymous comments who knows what the tenor in the locker room is going to be. Let’s hope it’s more like Cotchery. 

This time it’s fullback Tony Richardson, an 11-year vet from the Vikings. This isn’t as big as the other signings because 1) it’s only a one-year deal and 2) fullback might be the least important position on the field. Still, it’s another sign that the Jets are determined to revamp their personnel in the trenches.

Oh, and Richardson is a former Pro-Bowler, making him the fourth Pro-Bowler they’ve acquired. Seems like more than a coincidence doesn’t it? Maybe that’s why they dealt Vilma. He was only a Pro-Bowl alternate. What a scrub.