By Tom Rock
OK, we got both Tannenbaum and Kendall. Apparently they’ve kissed and made up, because they had mostly nice things to say about each other.
“It’s the business side, the distasteful side,” Kendall said of the mudslinging that came out in the last few months. “The hard feelings are gone, the situation is settled.”
Kendall sounded about as relaxed as I can ever remember hearing him (shout-out to J.P for being our liaison with the Skins and getting the conference call up and running). I think he’s still a little stunned and numb that this all happened. According to the people I spoke with, it’s not the result Pete was rooting for. He really wanted to stay with the Jets. He just wanted his million bucks.
“Obviously there was a miscommunication, a misunderstanding,” Tannenbaum said of the alleged handshake agreement he and Kendall had in regard to his $1 million raise. Kendall had often said Tannenbaum told him his request was “not unreasonable.” Tannenbaum would not respond to those claims.
While Tannenbaum said there were things he learned from this episode, he was reluctant to admit that he would have done anything differently.
Tannenbaum was adamant that this trade was not about Pete running his mouth every day, or the prospect of him doing so for the rest of the season. It was about the value they received in return, he said. Whether that value will turn out to be as good as, say, the draft pick they received for John Abraham which was used to take Nick Mangold remains to be seen. But with what could be a fifth-round pick next year or a fourth-round pick in 2009 – which seems an awfully long time from now, the Jets could have two Super Bowl titles by then! – it’s a gamble.
Of course, it’s unlikely Pete will still be playing at the same level, if at all, when the 2009 draft comes around. By then, when we’re all signing Hosannas about how great that 07 draft was with Jacob Bender as the steal of the century, this trade will look like solid gold.
Right now it’s a little hard to tell. Pete’s contribution to this team was immense, and not just as a player. He’ll be missed in the locker room, in the meeting room, and definitely on the press room. If the Jets can somehow plug his on-field gap with someone solid – and it seems unlikely to be anyone on the current roster – then they can move on. But as soon as middle linebackers start blitzing past Bender or defensive tackles start hitting Thomas Jones in the backfield because Adrien Clarke couldn’t block them, the questions of whether or not trading Kendall were worth it will start to surface.
Tannenbaum can talk about salary caps and future considerations and the whole picture all he wants. If left guard becomes a handicap for this year’s team, it’ll be hard to sell this as a good trade. At least for the time being.
By the way, Pete said “thanks” to all the Jets fans in his farewell address. Just thought I'd pass it along.
Comments (30)
I'll say it again..... dumb... this was a dumb move. A lousy 1 mil and you have the O-Line shored up for 2007, maybe 2008 barring any crazy injuries.
This was dumb. Bender is not starting caliber, other than the fact that he's a big guy.
Oh well... Noddle better have his running shoes, or change Jones to a Full Back and block more, because Noddle will need it.
Sorry... NOODLE... with two "O's" not two "D's".
Jimmy Cheese,
Why do you believe it would have been a smart move to cave to Kendall for the sake of shoring up the OL for 2007 ? Do you believe the Jets with a happy Pete Kendall at LG are a Superbowl caliber team ? Because if you don't believe that, then I can't understand why you, or anyone else, would want to publicy cave to a guy who has done nothing but sulk and rip the team since he training camp began.
DOES any of this make sense?
3 reasons to get rid of Pete.
1- Team policy?
2- Better player on roster.
3- more value by making the trade.
They vastly overpaid Coles, the RB from KC last year etc etc. A million doesn't seem like alot to keep the offensive line intact.
I've said it here before: these guys in the Jets front office are starting to believe their press clippings. T-Rock, I appreciate your guarded optimism which I hare as a loyal Jets fan. I also want us fans to stay guarded as we raise this Tangenius combo into levels where they think they can do no wrong or completely revolutionize football after just stepping into the room. I'm for vision, I'm for youth, I'm for giving rookies a chance to prove their mettle. And I'm also for giving a guy his due dollars--especially after allegedly giving your word with a handshake. Seems to me that a cool $1 million extra for a player/coach should have been a very little price to pay. Congrats! Pete. Get yours and stay healthy. Loyalty is a $2.47-million-way street.
JFL
This was a terrible move. Kendall is a proven O lineman and has contributed so much to the Jets. He's helped Brick and Mangold immensely and he's a team leader. In today's world of sports, loyalty is a two way street. When millions are thrown around every day like penny's, it only took a million bucks to keep the O line solid and keep our injury prone franchise quarterback protected. Not to mention our running game strong. Bad move Mr. T.
What do any of you really know about football? Are you a player? Are you a coach or work in the front office of any NFL team? All you know is what you read or watch from the likes of Rock,(no offense)ESPN, NFL network etc...Just be excited that the season is starting soon and Jets organization will do whats best for the Jets and the fans. So stop complaining about moves that are way out of your league and control. Go Jets.
OK. So, now I guess the team's next move is to keep an eye on the waiver wire to pick up a, you guessed it, veteran player to replace Kendall. The JETS haven't had the the same O line start the season 2 years in a row since, I don't know when.
Let's hope the brain trust knows what they're doing, or we'll see Kellen before long.
The starting OL in 2005 when the Jets led Curtis Martin to a rushing title, won a playoff game despite a QB who had a rotator cuff injury the last part of the season:
LT Jason Fabini (a healthy JF)
LG Pete Kendall
C Kevin Mawae
RG Brandon Moore
RT Kareem McKenzie
The 2007 O-line is awful and it will show.
Jets will certainly miss Kendall but I think the bigger story here is that this seems to be Belichick-style hardball just to be stubborn and to prove to everyone that GM & coach are the bosses and even one of the best and most highly respected players is squat in their eyes. It's the arrogance that says we're so great at coaching we can bring in any old slob and he'll play just as well as you. Belichick has gotten away with it but I don't think Tangenius should start thinking that way. They haven't won anything yet.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
(1) THE JETS WERE SMART TO GET RID OF KENDALL. Suggesting that the Jets ought to have renegotiated a contract that was signed only last year is ludicrous in itself. But beyond the intrinsic absurdity of doing so, it would have had disastrous repercussions for the organization because every player with a contract gripe would have cited the Kendall appeasement as precedent for renegotiating their own contracts. You have to take a hard stance on matters like this if only to gain credibility with the rest of the players. To his credit, Tannenbaum did so.
(2) THE JETS GOT EXCELLENT VALUE FOE KENDALL. When was the last time that a team got a decent draft pick for a 34-year-old guard with a questionable attitude? The Jets were faced with a public-relations disaster, and everyone knew it. Accordingly, their leverage was nil. Kendall was going to be released before the season began, anyway. The Jets would have gotten nothing for him, and he might have wound up in Miami or New England. That they managed to extract a #4 for Kendall while shipping him out of conference is quite amazing.
I'm still waiting, when is anyone from the media going to report that Kendall made over $5 mil from the Jets for 1 year of work?
Jetsrule05...
I've been a Jets fan waaayyy too long not to see this one coming. I would not have, as you put it, 'caved' in to him. I would have settled his issue when it was first brought up, by taking care of him. Veteran linemen, especially elite quality O-Linemen like Kendall are NOT a dime-a-dozen, as we are finding out very quickly. This was a no-brainer. Keep him, and allow his knowledge to pass on to the replacement behind him, who is at best, Bender. Do you honestly believe that Kendall's influence on 'Brick and Mangold had NOTHING to do with last year's success? That influence alone is worth keeping him on for a lousy 1 mil, compared to shelling out oodles on an unproven D-Back who held out most of, if not ALL of training camp. Who caved in there? You can't beat veterans that are good and proven to be good. Take a look at Mawae in Tenn. Still kickin' butt down there, and he would have done well for us here. Thankfully we really got lucky in the draft and found Mangold.
Aside from the 1 mil, there were plenty more reasons to keep him than loose him. Put it this way, if enough players and fans are pissed off (including myself) that they let him go, that must mean he was a very good player and we will miss his presence on the field.
But hey, I could be wrong and Clarke, Bender and the water boy might do well this season. Maybe Mangenious will try to convert the Copier Repair man to a Wide Receiver, or maybe he'll plug in the Ice Cream truck driver in at Linebacker, since he like people to play 'multi-roles'.
No, I do not think this is a Super Bowl caliber football team with OR without Kendall. But we were miles ahead with him.
Right now, Noodle is praying they find a decent replacement on waivers...
When this entire Kendall soap opera began, I was of the opinion "If you don't want to be a Jet, don't let the door hit you on the way out." However, the fact of the matter is, he did want to remain a Jet. He is still a seviceable player and was a valuable mentor to the young OL. If, in fact, the GM promised him a raise, I don't blame him for being upset. The bottom line, though, is it didn't have to come to this. An OL is only as good as its weakest link, so now hopefully, that won't be who takes his spot on the line. Moral to the story: NEVER MAKE A HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT!
Kendall's claim is fundamentally incredible. The suggestion that Tannenbaum would have agreed to rip up a multi-year contract just a few months after it was signed is absurd.
Kendall repeatedly made it clear he wanted OUT if his demands were not met. He also stated in every media outlet that he wanted OUT.
He only stated he wanted to remain a Jet after he was a Redskin. Same thing he said when he left the Cardinals.
NOT one media outlet prefaces their numerous stories with the fact that he had a FRONT loaded contract that OVER paid him 5.2 million last year! He stole our money and ran, just like he did with Cardinals. Skin fans should remember, this is their future. Go Jets!
Pete,
My mother always told me to think first before saying anything bad about someone. I stopped, thought and now say to you "GOOD RIDDANCE!" And enjoy being 6-10 in DC. The JETS are free of a cancer and can now concentrate on being a team, a word PK doesn't know how to spell.
Amen, The Ed(itor), amen.
You really have to wonder what planet Cannizzaro is on when he blasts this trade.
The issue here was not whether Kendall was worth a million dollars more. Had it been only that, the Jets would have given him the money. The REAL ISSUE
is whether it's appropriate to rengotiate long-term contracts that were signed only a year earlier. When an organization does things like that, it fundamentally udnermines the credibility of the contracts it hands out. Caving to Kendall would have sent a patent message to the other players: EVERYONE WHO THINKS HE SHOULD BE GETTING MORE MONEY CAN RENEGOTIATE RIGHT NOW.
THAT would have ruined the team. The Jets had to draw a line in the sand, and Jet fans should just be happy that it didn't happen with a better player.
The Jets will BENEFIT from this in the future in much the same way they will benefit from the stance they took on Revis.
Unfortunately, few fans see the big picture.
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