Rhodes was probably the best player on the team. Needless to say, it’s good to have him back. He’s started all 48 games since being drafted in the fourth round, making 10 interceptions, eight sacks, and 213 tackles (71 per year). He’s a deadly weapon on safety blitzes. Seems like when he rushes the passer he always either takes him down or breaks up the play.

His extension follows a guarantee of Laveranues Coles’s two remaining years at $11 mil. The clubhouse aught to be satiated at this point. Those were the two vets squabbling with management. Now that they’ve been taken care of the Jets can all be one big happy family.

This doesn’t feel like a great move by Miami prez Bill Parcells. Gholston has as much physical potential as anyone in the draft but has been accused of a spotty motor. He was tremendous against Michigan (in fact he beat Long for the only sack Long allowed last year) but disappeared in the title game against LSU. It’s easy to get lured by someone’s combine workout. Gholston tied Long with a combine-best 37 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press and ran a 4.6 40-yard dash. But can you really risk the top pick on a player that doesn’t try hard all the time? The bust potential here is too big. I can see Parcells ripping into Gholston in three years when he’s back with ESPN and Gholston is making three sacks a year with a huge contract.

Interestingly, the last first-round pick Parcells ever made was another Ohio State LB, Bobby Carpenter. That was in 2006 with Dallas. He also took a first-round linebacker when he was picking the groceries for the Jets — James Farrior in 1996. That didn’t work out so well.

How do you feel about Gholston becoming the likely pick?

Flush with confidence, Tannenbaum then declared that Chad Pennington isn’t going anywhere either. Chad isn’t leaving, he said, whether through cut or trade, and will compete for the starting QB job in camp. It had been believed that Chad’s Jet career was over after being benched for Kellen Clemens last year. But it seems Clemens so underwhelmed the front office that they’re willing to throw him back into open competition. Which he will probably lose, because his intangibles and decision-making (which look much more impressive during training camp when no one’s getting tackled) aren’t up to Chad’s level.

I’m fine with Woody Johnson’s declaration and not so fine with Tannenbaum’s. In general I believe that coaches and especially general managers get fired way too quickly in sports. Smart GMs come into a new job with a plan. Plans take a few years to enact. And most of them are coming into bad situations. Owners that are too restless or that listen to impatient fan bases tend to fire GMs in the middle of the plan, thereby subordinating the team. Tangini’s only had two years on the job. 2008 will make three. Is that enough time to judge their work? I say no. They need time to build a team to their liking and even make a few mistakes without one screwup (which everyone has) without being tossed in the street. At the same time, loyalty has to end somewhere. Just look at the disaster that is the Knicks. James Dolan is so loyal and sycophantic to Isiah Thomas that he’s blind to the man’s abysmal record. Tangini shouldn’t be judged like Thomas. They’ve already had one overachieving season. Their boss, sensitive purveyor of baby powder and No More Tears shampoo that he is, was right to extend them some latitude.

Chad doesn’t deserve the same treatment. Not that he’s a bad guy; not that he hasn’t done a lot for the organization. The guy just isn’t a very effective NFL quarterback anymore. And he’s not going to get better. The Chad we saw last year, the one who lost his job, that’s the Chad we’ll get in 2008. Sure, he’ll look better behind the revamped O-line. So will Clemens. There is no future in Chad. You cannot win a Super Bowl with Chad. And if you start him again you delay the rebuilding process another year. Let’s either see what we’ve got in Clemens or pick up someone in the draft (I’ve heard Delaware’s Joe Flacco mentioned) and start the process. Chad should be gone, and if he’s not gone he should be a backup, a safety valve just in case. Again, Chad is not the future.

Tangini—use your new job security to move away from short term fixes.

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.  

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.

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.

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.