David Clowney reached an agreement with the Jets yesterday so will be one of the options at eide receiver. Even though he wasn’t able to shop around, given the kind words Mike Tannenbaum had for him a few weeks ago, Clowney is in a better position in terms of potential playing time.

Also today, the Jets exercised the right of first refusal on Abram Elam, so the safety will be back with the team this season.

The roster keeps getting more solid. The Jets have added DE Marques Douglas and unrestricted free agent DT Howard Green. And DB Ahmad Carroll will be back with the Jets this season. These announcements are bing made the week before the Jets start their offseason conditioning program at Florham Park.

Although it’s pretty compulsory in any season, with so many new pieces and a new coach in Rex Ryan, team building is more important than ever.

And speaking of teams, the Suburbia Roller Derby travel team, Suburban Brawl, will be taking on the Utica Clubbers at the Yonkers PAL this Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets available online!

Could the Jets be interested in the other quarterback Bus Cook represents, Denver’s Jay Cutler? Chris Mortensen is reporting on ESPN that the young QB wants out of Denver pretty badly, and he could be on the market.

Cook’s other quarterback, you may remember, is none other than Brett Favre. You know that there is a relationship between Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and Cook, and that the Jets are somewhat languidly pursuing options at that position.

They primarily seem focused on the draft. The Jets are working out Kansas State’s Josh Freeman today and have met with Mark Sanchez. A more pressing need at this time is probably the wide receiver position. The team gave up Laveranues Coles before the start of free agency and need a someone speedy and versatile at the position to compliment Jerricho Cotchery.

Maybe the Jets don’t go after Cutler (above, AP), but he’s a heck of a lot more realistic an option than Matt Cassel ever was. Maybe Cook can give the Jets a two-for-one discount.

Eric Barton to Cleveland? The linebacker will join former Jet David Bowens with former coach Eric Mangini’s new team. The Jets waived DT Nate Robinson and Hutch reports that the team agreed to terms with Ravens DE Marques Douglas.

In other news, the Giants announced that they would not raise ticket prices at all for the 2009 season. Kind of the calm before the storm.

Proving that Rex Ryan isn’t the only one who can lure his former players back, Eric Mangini has snagged former Jets LB David Bowens. Granted, the former Jets and current Browns coach didn’t show up at midnight of free agency with a nice cabernet (I’m embellishing, but you can’t go empty-handed), yet this should disprove the idea that Mangini was a compete tyrant who alienated every player.

Just ask Hank Poteat.

That photo of Bowens and Mangini is at chocoversity.com, where the Jets did a fundraiser last May.

Also yesterday the Jets signed LB Larry Izzo away from the Patriots. The 34-year-old veteran had a canned statement in the release.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to play for the Jets and Mr. (Woody) Johnson,” Izzo said. “I’m grateful for the chance to be reunited with coach (Mike) Westhoff, who played a key role early in my career, and look forward to playing for coach Ryan as he brings his passionate, physical style of football to New York. Having spent my entire career in the AFC East, I’m very familiar with the Jets’ incredibly loyal, knowledgeable and passionate fans and this is an amazing chance to work hard and make them proud.”

Lastly, the world needs another football league and the United Football League is answering that cry. What is interesting about it is that  former Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell will coach the New York team, and former Giants coach Jim Fassel will coach the Las Vegas franchise. When I think Vegas, I never thought Fassel, but I guess that will have to change.

In the cold and mud today, Jets owner Woody Johnson and Giants co-owner Steve Tisch came out and signed a huge football attached to the final steel beam before it was hoisted into place in front of a crowd of cheering construction and steel workers at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The $1.6 billion stadium, just next door to the current Giants Stadium, is four months ahead of schedule and on (the revised) budget. (It’s not quite ahead enough of schedule to open this season.)

“I would call it a killer success, a major success,” Johnson said.

The naming rights, however, remain unsold. Johnson said they didn’t have a completed deal on the horizon although they were talking to several international firms. International because, of course, the economic predicament in our own country makes it tough for, oh, say Citibank to come in and throw a few million at a sports team for the right to put a sticker on the door.

And that’s true when it comes to the personal seat licenses, or personal seat exit plans as a lot of commenters on this blog have put it. Johnson said the Jets are giving season ticket subscribers a crack at seats based on seniority, and that the response has been good.

How good? No numbers, he said, but it is hard to imagine the Jets—with just 10,000 on the waiting list for the 80,000 or so seats—will be able to replace everyone who is unable to pay a PSL. To be fair, not every seat in the New Meadowlands Stadium will have to play a PSL for Jets tickets. The same can’t be said for the Giants, who have about 140,000 people on the waiting list.

But this isn’t the best economy for a team to test the “what the market will bear” theory of seat ownership.

Johnson also talked about new coach Rex Ryan and the team he and Mike Tannenbaum are putting together for next season. Guess what—he likes it! You can hear that below.

0310woody

Terrell Owens is a Bill. You will have to see him play the Jets twice a year.

A source close to the Jets said at the time he became a free agent that Owens wasn’t being considered by the Jets despite a need for a good receiver. But again, addition by subtraction. With Owens, with Ray Lewis, with Michael Vick, the negatives could outweigh the positives depending on how much you think off the field behaviors impact what happens in the context of a team and its season.

As I said before Shaun Ellis was pulled over and charged with marijuana possession, if I never have to call a police department and ask for a copy of an arrest report, I’m cool with that.

Someone is happy to be back with the Jets. Jay Feely ended up being the place kicker that the team kept. Mike Nugent started with the job last season but that an injury forced him to the sideline. Feely stepped in and went 24-for-28. The better he played, the longer Nugent stayed on the injury report.

Neither knew who would play each week, but Feely kept dressing for the game. This year he’ll be back without all the drama.

“I am eager to get to work and be a part of the team that brings a Super Bowl title back to the NY Jets,” Feely said in an email.

With Nugent now in Tampa Bay, the 32-year-old Feely said he’s excited about the direction of the team and offseason changes.

“I am thrilled to be back with the NY Jets. The Jets are an organization committed to winning and I look forward to being a piece of the winning formula,” Feely said. “The relationships I developed with my teammates and my immense respect for coach (Mike) Westhoff made it an easy decision for me to want to be a NY Jet. I am grateful the Jets felt the same about me.”

The Jets are still waiting to announce Feely, but the deal is in the final stages.

In other Jets news, Alan Faneca is promoting the 2009 National Walk for Epilepsy on March 28 in Washington D.C. The left guard was diagnosed with the condition as a teen and will take part in the two-mile walk.

David Clowney will be hosting a two-day football camp June 6 at Florida Atlantic University with some current and former teammates including Abe Elam, Drew Coleman, Santonio Holmes, Willis McGahee and Sinorice Moss.

Things seem to be calming down with free agency, and I like the two most recent developments in Laveranues Coles and Ray Lewis. Coles and Jerricho Cotchery were so similar as receivers. Both had the same kind of speed and agility, and you need a little more variety in the lineup to mix up the passing game. This season, if the Jets don’t have a veteran QB, they need to have a run and pass game that are solid enough to compensate.

As for Lewis, I think you need a good mix of the veterans and new players. Rex Ryan will obviously put his imprint on the defense (understatement…) but the Jets got the better of the linebackers in Bart Scott.

Lastly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jets announced they will be restucturing PSLs soon. It only makes sense in this economy. Even though the Jets are making their own loans to ticketholders, there will be too many loyal fans forced to back out of long-held seats with the extra fees. As for the corporations waiting to snatch up seats, even the deep pockets don’t have such deep pockets. Hard for a company taking bailout money to justify $20K a seat, no?

UPDATE 5:36: Uh, Bart, about that last million… The Jets announced to the Associated Press that employees would be taking two week furloughs rather than  have layoffs, which a lot of other teams have done in response to the economic climate. The NFL offices in New York are reducing staff by about 10 percent.

For the Jets, departments like marketing and media relations will be affected, but Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum won’t have to take the time. Those employees targeted will be asked to take off two weeks in a four-week period starting in late June.

What was apparent last week is official today: Laveranues Coles is gone.

The Bengals agreed to a four-year deal with the former Jets receiver, who will help fill the void in Cincinnati left by the departure of T.J. Houshmandzadeh to the Seahawks.

Meanwhile, the Jets settled on a kicker, bringing back Jay Feeley after Mike Nugent signed with Tampa Bay.

Feely became the kicker last season when Nugent was injured in the season opener at Miami, returned to the team with a fully guaranteed contract, the Associated Press reported.

The Jets let Coles leave as a free agent last week, restructuring his contract to make it easier. Coles, 31, had another year left on his deal, but wanted a multiyear extension. As part of a compromise, he became an unrestricted free agent and the team didn’t have to pay $6 million that was guaranteed him this season.

“The Bengals were very aggressive right from the start in talking to us,” Coles said in a statement released by the Bengals. “And when a team makes you feel really wanted, that’s a factor you’re not going to ignore. They said, ‘Let’s get this worked out,’ and we did.”

ESPN reported that the deal with Cincinnati was worth $28 million, another indication of how badly the Bengals wanted him. Coles also visited Buffalo last week.

By the way, I’m filling in for Jane on this post, but Jane has been busy today (along with Rick Carpiniello) on the Rangers blog.