" Bradway left Jets in good shape " ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

Bradway left Jets in good shape

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

BY DAVE HUTCHINSON / Star-Ledger Staff

Unfairly, it seems, former Jets GM Terry Bradway has been labeled a failure for his work during his five years running the club. He was blamed for everything that was wrong with the Jets.But a closer look reveals that's not the case and Bradway helped lay the foundation for a Jets team that is making a stunning playoff push and appears to have a neon-bright future.

Under Bradway,the Jets went to the playoffs in three of five seasons and would've probably gone at least once more if QB Chad Pennington had stayed healthy. Pennington was injured in three of Bradway's five seasons.Also, the Jets were able to retool on the fly without hitting rock bottom with a bunch of aging veterans.If Bradway is guilty of anything during his reign, it's that he had a few bad free-agent signings -- what GM isn't? -- and he was too thin-skinned for the job.

Consider some of Bradway's moves:

He refused to sign DE John Abraham to a long-term deal and dealt him for a draft pick that turned out to be C Nick Mangold (29th overall). Abraham is having another injury-plagued season in Atlanta.He moved up in the 2003 draft to select NT/DT Dewayne Robertson at No. 4 overall. Robertson is playing extremely well at NT and would be dominant at DT in a 4-3 scheme, which he was drafted to play.Suddenly, the selection of DE Bryan Thomas at 22nd overall in 2002 doesn't look so bad. He's having a career year and recently signed a new deal.The trade of the 2005 first-round pick (26th overall) that netted K Mike Nugent was solid even though TE Doug Jolley was a bust. Nugent has hit a career-high 13 straight FGs, including a 54- and 52-yarder.

Nine starters were drafted by Bradway, including LBs Jonathan Vilma and Victor Hobson, WR Jerricho Cotchery, safeties Kerry Rhodes and Eric Coleman and Robertson. KR Justin Miller was also a Bradway pick.Players' coach Herm Edwards was what the Jets needed at the time in the aftermath of unpopular taskmaster Al Groh.

On the down side, Bradway still takes a hit for the Redskins raiding his roster in 2003, although it wasn't as bad as first thought. WR Laveranues Coles is back (at a huge price and at the expense of WR Santana Moss) but G Randy Thomas wasn't worth the megabucks the Redskins gave him and K John Hall and KR Chad Morton are average players.Free-agent flops RB Derrick Blaylock and CB Aaron Beasley are hard to defend and Bradway made a big mistake by not re-signing RB Lamont Jordan before his price tag skyrocketed.

Even so, Bradway left the Jets in good shape.

Now director of player personnel, Bradway is keeping a low profile and was unavailable for comment. People close to him say he couldn't be happier scouting.But there are rumblings that he's feeling rejuvenated and is thinking about taking another crack at a GM position.Interestingly, word is Bradway would be interested in talking to the Giants about replacing the soon-to-be-retired Ernie Accorsi. He began his NFL career with the Giants in 1986 and remains close to many in the organization.

Bradway trading Gang Green for Big Blue? Stay tuned.

Next Opponent

The Dolphins (6-8) find themselves in the role of spoiler after a 21-0 loss to the Bills last week.QB Joey Harrington, who directed the Dolphins to five wins in a six-game stretch, had a major meltdown vs. the Bills. He hit 5 of 17 passes for 20 yards and two INTs for a zero passer rating before being benched in favor of Cleo Lemon.Harrington, however, will start vs. the Jets.

WR Chris Chambers (55 catches, 622 yards, four TDs) and Marty Booker (51 catches, 701 yards, six TDs) were both shut out vs. the Bills. Afterwards, Chambers complained that the Dolphins' game plan was conservative and predictable.RB Ronnie Brown rushed for 127 yards and a TD on 22 attempts in a 20-17 loss to the Jets at Giants Stadium in Week 6.Defensively, the Dolphins, led by DE Jason Taylor and MLB Zach Thomas, rank third in the NFL (278.7 yards per game). They have notched 46 sacks (3rd in the NFL) and their 243 points allowed is the fifth fewest in the league.Against the Bills, the Dolphins secondary allowed three TDs passes to QB J.P. Losman and 200 yards passing.

Key Matchup

Jets rookie LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson vs. Dolphins DE Jason Taylor, who has 12 1/2 sacks, nine forced fumbles, two interceptions (both returned for TDs), one fumble recovery and 55 tackles this season. Taylor had one sack in the first meeting.

Injuries

Jets -- WR Laveranues Coles (back/ribs) and C Nick Mangold (leg/hip).

Dolphins -- RB Ronnie Brown (fractured hand), WR Marty Booker (sprained ankle), LT Damion McIntosh (forearm) and DT Dan Wilkinson (leg).

> http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1166597225241560.xml&coll=1&thispage=2

[Scott Dierking]

Where I will be critical of Bradway was his inability to seem to get on the same page as his coach. There never seemed to be a synchronzation between the two of ideal players to fit their system and an approach to getting those players.

Bradway seemed to always be in the mode of, lets get an athlete and just plug him in and he will fit our system. That always does not work.

He should have prodded Herm to play more of "Bradways guys" (players he drafted), to get them on the field more.

I don't think that Bradway has a personality that allows him to impose his will on people, and that allows them to run over him. He is a better soldier than a general.

Oh, and he bungled the Herm/KC negotiations also.

Other than that, I think he can pick players well, especially if he is given a criteria of what you are looking for in a certain player. That will be key with this new regime.

[Boozer76]

I never really bashed Bradway when he was here. I didn't think he was all that bad as a GM. He wasn't great, but not horrible. Bradway had 1 fatal flaw IMO-When he wanted a guy he would completely overpay to get him. Robertson, Barrett, McCareins, and Thomas were glaring examples of that.

[Scott Dierking]

I never really bashed Bradway when he was here. I didn't think he was all that bad as a GM. He wasn't great, but not horrible. Bradway had 1 fatal flaw IMO-When he wanted a guy he would completely overpay to get him. Robertson, Barrett, McCareins, and Thomas were glaring examples of that.

He had the Parcells loyalty gene, also. kept some players on too long.

[Sperm Edwards]

???

• Bradway didn't do the Abraham trade; Tannenbaum did.
  
• He properly says Tannenbaum drafted DRob but left out that we traded 3 draft picks (including 2 first-rounders) to get him. So while we drafted DRob who has been mostly good but not great, the players who went at or right after our original picks (at positions of need for the Jets) were Ty Warren/Troy Polamalu (with the first pick) and McGahee/Dallas Clark/Larry Johnson. Asante Samuel went off the board 4 picks after the 4th-rounder we also traded away for DRob. If we took RB with the first pick, it would have further netted yet another pick, as we would've been able to trade Jordan for the early 3rd-rounder that we turned down from Houston. Of course it is EASY to play the hindsight game. But before lauding praise on Bradway for DRob and his bloated cap # that prevented the signing of a known-quantity player, it easily could've been: Troy Polamalu + Larry Johnson + Asante Samuel + 3rd rounder + more cap room instead of one Dewayne Robertson.
  
• The drafting of Bryan Thomas over Ed Reed, however well BT's playing this year, still looks as bad today it did back then. Thomas has turned into a good OLB. Reed is, and has been, a GREAT safety.
  
• Nugent is doing very well on his FG's. Until Nugent hits a 40+ FG to win a game with the clock winding down, a 2nd-rounder is too steep. Also a 2nd-round kicker should be able to get more than his roughly one touchback in two seasons.

Bradway left the Jets in TERRIBLE shape. Mangini & Tannenbaum fixing the problems and coaching bad players into mediocre players, or mediocre players into good player, should not be equated with Bradway adding ready-made pro-bowlers to the team.

In addition to the blunders mentioned, Hutchinson left out:

• With the usual compensation for an under-contract HC being either a first-rounder & more, let an under-contract (with 2 years left at that) HC go to a conference rival - whose GM was Bradway's mentor - and got a paltry mid-4th-rounder for him. Still glad to get anything & am happy just to have Herm gone, but KC clearly wanted him, clearly tampered, and we got dicked in terms of customary compensation.
  
• With the team practicing on Long Island and playing in East Rutherford, Bradway moved down by Atlantic City that made coming to work every day impractical, if not impossible.
  
• He let a then in-demand LaMont Jordan go with no compensation to the Jets. In 2003, Houston offered us their (very high) 3rd-rounder, which we turned down. Bradway instead chose to keep him for 1 more year as a rarely-used backup & then let him go for nothing.
  
• Signed Sam Cowart, a 3-4 ILB on IR the prior season with a ruptured knee ligament, to a $30M contract, knowing we play a 4-3 and he'd likely be moved to OLB. Before long, said player was traded to Minnesota for a 7th-rounder.
  
• Signed an aging Ty Law to a 1-year rent-a-CB contract that cost us $3-4M to cut this year. I didn't have a problem going after Law so much as giving him a contract that was prohibitively expensive to keep him past '05, and would cost us so much to let him go.
  
• Re-signed Chad Pennington to a $64M contract with $23M in bonus money (including $18M up front) before he'd completed a single 16-game season, and was coming off a decidedly mediocre half-season in '03.
  
• Re-signed Shaun Ellis (while a good DE) to a bloated contract with a $15M signing bonus, then-commensurate with great players with multiple pro-bowl appearances.
  
• Traded away a mid-high 2nd-round pick for a #3 WR who'd never had a single 100-yard game in Justin McCareins, and then gave said player a $31M contract. This is where the money for Kareem McKenzie went & why we are still without a legit RT. However much the Giants overpaid KMac, he would've cost less than that if we re-signed him before he hit free agency.
  
• Re-signed Chrebet (however much I loved the guy as a Jet) to a contract he was not nearly worth.
  
• After drafting a HB in round two, re-signed 29 year-old Curtis Martin, then already in the top-10 in career carries, to a 7-year extension for like $46M. It was foolish & naive to think we would've gotten even 3 more years' production out of him commensurate with the compensation he was to receive.

I'm sure there's more but the point is Hutchinson has grossly underestimated Bradway's ineptitude, if not incompetence, as a GM. Bradway is hardly deserving of a fluff-piece.

[Scott Dierking]

???

• Bradway didn't do the Abraham trade; Tannenbaum did.
  
• He properly says Tannenbaum drafted DRob but left out that we traded 3 draft picks (including 2 first-rounders) to get him. So while we drafted DRob who has been mostly good but not great, the players who went at or right after our original picks (at positions of need for the Jets) were Ty Warren/Troy Polamalu (with the first pick) and McGahee/Dallas Clark/Larry Johnson. Asante Samuel went off the board 4 picks after the 4th-rounder we also traded away for DRob. If we took RB with the first pick, it would have further netted yet another pick, as we would've been able to trade Jordan for the early 3rd-rounder that we turned down from Houston. Of course it is EASY to play the hindsight game. But before lauding praise on Bradway for DRob and his bloated cap # that prevented the signing of a known-quantity player, it easily could've been: Troy Polamalu + Larry Johnson + Asante Samuel + 3rd rounder + more cap room instead of one Dewayne Robertson.
  
• The drafting of Bryan Thomas over Ed Reed, however well BT's playing this year, still looks as bad today it did back then. Thomas has turned into a good OLB. Reed is, and has been, a GREAT safety.
  
• Nugent is doing very well on his FG's. Until Nugent hits a 40+ FG to win a game with the clock winding down, a 2nd-rounder is too steep. Also a 2nd-round kicker should be able to get more than his roughly one touchback in two seasons.

Bradway left the Jets in TERRIBLE shape. Mangini & Tannenbaum fixing the problems and coaching bad players into mediocre players, or mediocre players into good player, should not be equated with Bradway adding ready-made pro-bowlers to the team.

In addition to the blunders mentioned, Hutchinson left out:

• With the usual compensation for an under-contract HC being either a first-rounder & more, let an under-contract (with 2 years left at that) HC go to a conference rival - whose GM was Bradway's mentor - and got a paltry mid-4th-rounder for him. Still glad to get anything & am happy just to have Herm gone, but KC clearly wanted him, clearly tampered, and we got dicked in terms of customary compensation.
  
• With the team practicing on Long Island and playing in East Rutherford, Bradway moved down by Atlantic City that made coming to work every day impractical, if not impossible.
  
• He let a then in-demand LaMont Jordan go with no compensation to the Jets. In 2003, Houston offered us their (very high) 3rd-rounder, which we turned down. Bradway instead chose to keep him for 1 more year as a rarely-used backup & then let him go for nothing.
  
• Signed Sam Cowart, a 3-4 ILB on IR the prior season with a ruptured knee ligament, to a $30M contract, knowing we play a 4-3 and he'd likely be moved to OLB. Before long, said player was traded to Minnesota for a 7th-rounder.
  
• Signed an aging Ty Law to a 1-year rent-a-CB contract that cost us $3-4M to cut this year. I didn't have a problem going after Law so much as giving him a contract that was prohibitively expensive to keep him past '05, and would cost us so much to let him go.
  
• Re-signed Chad Pennington to a $64M contract with $23M in bonus money (including $18M up front) before he'd completed a single 16-game season, and was coming off a decidedly mediocre half-season in '03.
  
• Re-signed Shaun Ellis (while a good DE) to a bloated contract with a $15M signing bonus, then-commensurate with great players with multiple pro-bowl appearances.
  
• Traded away a mid-high 2nd-round pick for a #3 WR who'd never had a single 100-yard game in Justin McCareins, and then gave said player a $31M contract. This is where the money for Kareem McKenzie went & why we are still without a legit RT. However much the Giants overpaid KMac, he would've cost less than that if we re-signed him before he hit free agency.
  
• Re-signed Chrebet (however much I loved the guy as a Jet) to a contract he was not nearly worth.
  
• After drafting a HB in round two, re-signed 29 year-old Curtis Martin, then already in the top-10 in career carries, to a 7-year extension for like $46M. It was foolish & naive to think we would've gotten even 3 more years' production out of him commensurate with the compensation he was to receive.

I'm sure there's more but the point is Hutchinson has grossly underestimated Bradway's ineptitude, if not incompetence, as a GM. Bradway is hardly deserving of a fluff-piece.

It's X-mas Spermy, X-Mas. Throw a dog a bone here.

[4HCrew]

The Redskins fiasco, the Jolley disaster and the Herm exodus just seem to irk me too much regarding Bradway. In addition the Bryan Thomas/Ed Reed thing still boggles me

[Sperm Edwards]

It's X-mas Spermy, X-Mas. Throw a dog a bone here.

Why not write a fluff-piece on Herm Edwards then, if you're in the mood to spread holiday cheer?

The Redskins fiasco, the Jolley disaster and the Herm exodus just seem to irk me too much regarding Bradway. In addition the Bryan Thomas/Ed Reed thing still boggles me

After the Jets drafted two very good (clearly non-bust) DE's with the #12 & #13 pick in 2000, and FS being a gaping hole in our defense, Thomas was a dumb pick. It boggled everyone, Tyson.

[#27TheDominator]

I'm supposed to be excited over 9 starters? In five years? What's the average turnover rate in the NFL? Especially considering that one was Coles who we had to trade for and give a big new deal. I'm actually a big DRob fan, but counting that move as a success is really pushing the envelope. Foundation? A 4-12 trainwreck that was in bad cap shape. Great.

[Preston Howley III]

My biggest knock on Bradway is, you never got the sense that he was in charge, or had a plan, or even knew what he was doing. Ever.

Other than that, he did a great job.

[Jetsfan80]

???

• Bradway didn't do the Abraham trade; Tannenbaum did.
  
• He properly says Tannenbaum drafted DRob but left out that we traded 3 draft picks (including 2 first-rounders) to get him. So while we drafted DRob who has been mostly good but not great, the players who went at or right after our original picks (at positions of need for the Jets) were Ty Warren/Troy Polamalu (with the first pick) and McGahee/Dallas Clark/Larry Johnson. Asante Samuel went off the board 4 picks after the 4th-rounder we also traded away for DRob. If we took RB with the first pick, it would have further netted yet another pick, as we would've been able to trade Jordan for the early 3rd-rounder that we turned down from Houston. Of course it is EASY to play the hindsight game. But before lauding praise on Bradway for DRob and his bloated cap # that prevented the signing of a known-quantity player, it easily could've been: Troy Polamalu + Larry Johnson + Asante Samuel + 3rd rounder + more cap room instead of one Dewayne Robertson.
  
• The drafting of Bryan Thomas over Ed Reed, however well BT's playing this year, still looks as bad today it did back then. Thomas has turned into a good OLB. Reed is, and has been, a GREAT safety.
  
• Nugent is doing very well on his FG's. Until Nugent hits a 40+ FG to win a game with the clock winding down, a 2nd-rounder is too steep. Also a 2nd-round kicker should be able to get more than his roughly one touchback in two seasons.

Bradway left the Jets in TERRIBLE shape. Mangini & Tannenbaum fixing the problems and coaching bad players into mediocre players, or mediocre players into good player, should not be equated with Bradway adding ready-made pro-bowlers to the team.

In addition to the blunders mentioned, Hutchinson left out:

• With the usual compensation for an under-contract HC being either a first-rounder & more, let an under-contract (with 2 years left at that) HC go to a conference rival - whose GM was Bradway's mentor - and got a paltry mid-4th-rounder for him. Still glad to get anything & am happy just to have Herm gone, but KC clearly wanted him, clearly tampered, and we got dicked in terms of customary compensation.
  
• With the team practicing on Long Island and playing in East Rutherford, Bradway moved down by Atlantic City that made coming to work every day impractical, if not impossible.
  
• He let a then in-demand LaMont Jordan go with no compensation to the Jets. In 2003, Houston offered us their (very high) 3rd-rounder, which we turned down. Bradway instead chose to keep him for 1 more year as a rarely-used backup & then let him go for nothing.
  
• Signed Sam Cowart, a 3-4 ILB on IR the prior season with a ruptured knee ligament, to a $30M contract, knowing we play a 4-3 and he'd likely be moved to OLB. Before long, said player was traded to Minnesota for a 7th-rounder.
  
• Signed an aging Ty Law to a 1-year rent-a-CB contract that cost us $3-4M to cut this year. I didn't have a problem going after Law so much as giving him a contract that was prohibitively expensive to keep him past '05, and would cost us so much to let him go.
  
• Re-signed Chad Pennington to a $64M contract with $23M in bonus money (including $18M up front) before he'd completed a single 16-game season, and was coming off a decidedly mediocre half-season in '03.
  
• Re-signed Shaun Ellis (while a good DE) to a bloated contract with a $15M signing bonus, then-commensurate with great players with multiple pro-bowl appearances.
  
• Traded away a mid-high 2nd-round pick for a #3 WR who'd never had a single 100-yard game in Justin McCareins, and then gave said player a $31M contract. This is where the money for Kareem McKenzie went & why we are still without a legit RT. However much the Giants overpaid KMac, he would've cost less than that if we re-signed him before he hit free agency.
  
• Re-signed Chrebet (however much I loved the guy as a Jet) to a contract he was not nearly worth.
  
• After drafting a HB in round two, re-signed 29 year-old Curtis Martin, then already in the top-10 in career carries, to a 7-year extension for like $46M. It was foolish & naive to think we would've gotten even 3 more years' production out of him commensurate with the compensation he was to receive.

I'm sure there's more but the point is Hutchinson has grossly underestimated Bradway's ineptitude, if not incompetence, as a GM. Bradway is hardly deserving of a fluff-piece.

POTW nomination.

You could have stopped with basically any one of those points and have made an argument that Bradway sucked. Put it all together, and Bradway looks just as bad, if not worse, than Herm. Parcells is who left this team in good shape. "Hermway" led it to mediocrity, and "Tangini" have done an excellent job picking up the pieces and making this team reach its potential. Bradway will never be a GM again.

[Stonehands]

A GM is only as good as the coaching staff he has molding his acquisitions into a cohesive unit. Bradway has taken the hit in some cases for Herm's reluctance to play young players, likewise Tannebaum is the beneficiary of a bold, imaginative coaching staff.

[BP]

When the Redskins signed Coles,and the Jets did not franchise him..Bradway:the Redskins weren't suppose to sign Coles.

The Coles for Santana Moss trade made no ****ing sense..I wanted both of them..he was an incompotent idiot,just like Hermy..this sounds like Kotite in 97..unreal..

[ECURB]

???

• it easily could've been: Troy Polamalu + Larry Johnson + Asante Samuel + 3rd rounder + more cap room instead of one Dewayne Robertson.

:puke::puke:

Are you trying to ruin my christmas or just make me cry???

Drob better have 50 sacks in his last 2 games for me to think about the above in a good light....

[Bugg]

You can knock him for Thomas and Robertson. But I won't be 2-faced about it; at the time I liked the Roberston deal, and he's playing very well right now. It does seem he had the habit of falling in love with guys at the combine workouts. But in fairness Thomas, with good coaching, is now paying dividends. Along the same lines, he drafted Cotchery, but for reasons known only to Edwards, he never saw the field.One big thing he did wrong-he knows the numbers on Martin's birth certificate and he should've dumped him and kept Jordan. All things considered, Bradway was a mixed bag.

I don't see how the Giants can sell Bradway as GM, unless he's going to take a backseat to a new coach, like Schiano or Weis.

[RSJ]

I like Bradway as a GM. I thought his problems were his coach and not his talent evaluation. We all now see that if put into a position to succeed Hobson, Cothery, Thomas, Rhodes, Robertson and many others were great picks.

[#27TheDominator]

Along the same lines, he drafted Cotchery, but for reasons known only to Edwards, he never saw the field.

What really made that one of Herm's criminal mistakes was that he would yap all the time about how good #89 was. Still he barely let the kid see the field. I remember the idiot press acting like the fact that Herm kept calling him #89 meant he liked him, when anybody who as been to any football camp knows that you tape and marker your name all over yourself so that the coaches know your name when you make a play.

[JetsMan57]

Bradway was a mixed bag, always one good offseason followed by a bad one.But a better head coach would have made him look a lot better. Hiring Herm was his biggest mistake.

He always seemed to be extremely uncomfortable with the media, hence I highly doubt he is looking at the Giants job.

[JetsMan57]

What really made that one of Herm's criminal mistakes was that he would yap all the time about how good #89 was. Still he barely let the kid see the field. I remember the idiot press acting like the fact that Herm kept calling him #89 meant he liked him, when anybody who as been to any football camp knows that you tape and marker your name all over yourself so that the coaches know your name when you make a play.

Coaches who know they are in over their head and dont have a clue are scared to play rookies or young players so they attach themselves to the veterans. The only time a youngster will get a shot is when a vet goes down.

I had a pretty good idea Mangini was going to be all right when he declared every position an open competition and hired inexperienced coordinators like Brian Schotenhiemer. Coaches who know what they are doing arent afraid to play or hire anybody.

[Sperm Edwards]

Coaches who know they are in over their head and dont have a clue are scared to play rookies so they attach themselves to the veterans.

I had a pretty good idea Mangini was going to be all right when he declared every position an open competition and hired inexperienced coordinators like Brian Schotenhiemer. Coaches who know what they are doing arent afraid to play or hire anybody.

Great point.

[#27TheDominator]

Coaches who know they are in over their head and dont have a clue are scared to play rookies or young players so they attach themselves to the veterans. The only time a youngster will get a shot is when a vet goes down.

I had a pretty good idea Mangini was going to be all right when he declared every position an open competition and hired inexperienced coordinators like Brian Schotenhiemer. Coaches who know what they are doing arent afraid to play or hire anybody.

I agree, but I wasn't convinced he was going to be alright because he said there was going to be open competition. Every coach with a brain says that when they take over a franchise. They just rarely do it.