F.Chowds Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 y Rich Cimini ESPNNewYork.com Archive SOMERSET, N.J. -- Even though he has a lot riding on the outcome of the NFL's labor dispute, New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes said Saturday his pending free-agent status is "one of my least favorite concerns." But that doesn't mean he hasn't formed strong opinions. Holmes, in his first interview since the end of the season, said he won't sign his one-year tender if he's deemed a restricted free agent -- which would be his status if the 2010 work rules are used for the 2011 free agency period. "I want a contract, flat out," Holmes told two reporters at a sports memorabilia show in Somerset, N.J., where he appeared with teammates LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie. "If I sign a contract, it will be for multiple years. It won't be for one year." As a player with five years' experience, Holmes would be one year shy of unrestricted free agency under the 2010 rules. Previously, all it took was four credited seasons to hit the open market. For Holmes, who would be one of the most coveted free agents, the potential difference between unrestricted and restricted is huge. The Jets protected themselves in the event the 2010 rules remain by placing the highest restricted tender on Holmes, first- and third-round picks -- their compensation if they were to lose him. The one-year salary for that tender is $3.5 million, nearly six times what he made last season. Nevertheless, Holmes, 27, feels he has earned a long-term deal. "I played five years to wait for my sixth year to come up," said Holmes, who was traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason because of off-the-field issues. "I don't want to play for a one-year deal. I wouldn't do it." Holmes is one of several key unsigned players on the Jets. The group includes wide receiver Braylon Edwards, multipurpose weapon Brad Smith and Cromartie, who declined an interview request. The Jets could've used their franchise tag on any of those players, but they opted to designate linebacker David Harris. Prior to the lockout, the Jets indicated their desire to retain Holmes, but they didn't say if they'd be willing to do a long-term deal. He's the No. 1 priority among their free agents, according to sources, but it's possible they may want to retain him on a one-year deal, if possible. That's what they did last offseason when Edwards was in the same situation. It would be cheaper and it would buy them another year to evaluate Holmes, who missed the first four games last season because of a substance-abuse suspension. Interestingly, Holmes didn't state that his goal is to re-sign with the Jets. He said he will take a wait-and-see approach, saying, "Whatever my agent brings to the table, the best deal for me, I'm pretty sure that's where I'll end up." Asked if he'd re-sign with the Jets if the offers are equal, Holmes replied, "That's a tough question right there. I'm going to leave that one undisclosed. I don't know right now." Holmes was a clutch player for the Jets, finishing with 52 catches for 746 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. He started building a rapport with quarterback Mark Sanchez, but as he noted, "I was building something in Pittsburgh and I got released." Reminded that he was traded, Holmes shot back, "I got released, I didn't get traded." Holmes laughed off a recent report that said he was luxury-apartment hunting in Manhattan, an account that fueled speculation that he had made up his mind to re-sign with the Jets. He said he'd never spend $6 million to live in an apartment, and that his search that day was to "entertain the fans" on a TV show. "I don't know what the odds are of me staying a Jet or moving on," he said. Holmes also commented for the first time on the controversial remarks he made after the Jets' loss to the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. He wasn't on the field for the first few plays, and seemed angry in the locker room, giving an "ask the coaches" response when questioned about it. It appeared to be a shot at offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Well, he was angry. Very. "I was being critical of not starting in the game," Holmes said. "However anybody wants to take it, whoever it was taking a shot at, that's that. I was being critical of not starting in the AFC Championship Game and I was frustrated. I was very upset that I didn't play for 10 plays. It probably made the biggest difference in how we played." http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6317245&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jet Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sign Braylon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F.Chowds Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sign Braylon. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointman Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Braylon Edwards please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoicsentry Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I was on the Braylon bandwagon before this happened so this only cements it a bit. There are two slight problems, though. 1, Braylon's legal issues pending for the DUI. 2, Patrick Turner is closer to a Braylon type player than a Santonio type. So if they have confidence in him, Santonio will be the more likely target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Jet Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Give him it. Our best WR by a mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 meh, happens all the time the player says he wants to play for a team, then the agent tells him he just cost himself a million dollars, so he changes his tune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 If the owners succeed in lowering the salary cap while the players succeed in getting UFA status lowered to 4 years, it will be an absolute feeding frenzy this summer to get people signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I was on the Braylon bandwagon before this happened so this only cements it a bit. There are two slight problems, though. 1, Braylon's legal issues pending for the DUI. 2, Patrick Turner is closer to a Braylon type player than a Santonio type. So if they have confidence in him, Santonio will be the more likely target. Turner seems to be a player with upside but he has been waived so many times. It just doesn't seem like they are counting on him much, I am not sure why exactly. But more than one team has waived him so I am not sure what the deal is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 If the owners succeed in lowering the salary cap while the players succeed in getting UFA status lowered to 4 years, it will be an absolute feeding frenzy this summer to get people signed. Sounds like it would be a good time to have an accountant as your GM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sounds like it would be a good time to have an accountant as your GM. ...or to not have so many mercenaries on short deals on your squad with no depth behind them should they leave because you traded away all your draft picks. But, yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damaged89 Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 ...or to not have so many mercenaries on short deals on your squad with no depth behind them should they leave because you traded away all your draft picks. But, yeah. If you were in Tannenbaum's place which of the deals would you have vetoed? Cromartie for a second- either we pay Lito ten million dollars or start Kyle Wilson. Braylon for a third and a fifth- a whole lot of good those picks did them. They're probably going to have to burn a first on a receiver this year. Holmes for a fifth- I'd make that 12 game rental every year. I'm not even going to get into the trade ups for Revis, Sanchez etc, because I think you'd agree they seem to be paying off. Or maybe not and we can talk about how we should have stayed put and taken Josh Freeman. I hope we don't do that though because it will just make me sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 If you were in Tannenbaum's place which of the deals would you have vetoed? Cromartie for a second- either we pay Lito ten million dollars or start Kyle Wilson. Braylon for a third and a fifth- a whole lot of good those picks did them. They're probably going to have to burn a first on a receiver this year. Holmes for a fifth- I'd make that 12 game rental every year. I'm not even going to get into the trade ups for Revis, Sanchez etc, because I think you'd agree they seem to be paying off. Or maybe not and we can talk about how we should have stayed put and taken Josh Freeman. I hope we don't do that though because it will just make me sad. I don't want to get into a Tannenbaum fight today. What he's doing is finally paying off. If the Jets break through and win it all, he's a genius. I was just breaking Max's balls because he was breaking mine. My stance has always been that he trades too many draft picks to prioritize a top-heavy roster. Not many teams that win Super Bowls do that. If he pulls it off, goody on him. Trailblazer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serphnx Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Once Braylon started catching, he became the better player...again. People forget that Braylon had 16 TDs just a few years ago...on the freaking Browns. That's a lot of TDs. On a very crappy team with a QB that I'm not sure is even in the league anymore. The Steelers have been able to replace Holmes pretty easily. In fact...they beat the Jets in with Holmes anyway. When the offense went through Braylon and Keller it was pretty much unstoppable. LT was scoring TDs and getting yardage, Keller and Braylon were moving the chains and grabbing TDs, Sanchez wasn't throwing INTs and the Jets were rolling. Then Holmes comes back and the offense generally wouldn't do anything until the 4th quarter. It'd always seemingly start out in a slump, and against the best teams in the league that's usually going to get you losses. The Jets will probably let Braylon go and sign Holmes but I think that is a mistake. Braylon is a freak athlete and has size. If the Jets let him go he will be a perennial Pro Bowler for somebody else. Also in terms of team unity, I felt Braylon was a better locker room guy. I really, really think the Jets are making a mistake with their priorities. Give Braylon the long term contract and force Holmes to sign the 1 year or hope some other team takes him and use the picks...we need the picks anyway. With a rookie salary cap coming up those picks are even more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vudu Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I like Santonio but my baby daddy Braylon better be first priority or I will raise hell. Seriously though, we havent heard a peep from Braylon other than him saying how much he likes it here. Santonio has started running his mouth about contract contract contract. Seems to be a diva in waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 ...or to not have so many mercenaries on short deals on your squad with no depth behind them should they leave because you traded away all your draft picks. But, yeah. Offensive line is locked up. QB is locked up. They had some skill guys on short term deals but nobody that they can't bring back\replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Seems to be a diva in waiting. Considering he was forcibly ejected from his former, contending franchise, I'd guess there was some diva behavior in his past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJ Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 My first pick is B. E. - but it would be sweet to have them both again. And locked up for awhile (by contract, not in the sh!tcan) if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsfan80 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I think Holmes is a better option for Sanchez. How many times did he break a play open on a simple quick slant? He's a young QB's best friend. Braylon is a better vertical deep threat, but as it was mentioned in another thread.....we can bring in Randy Moss to do that (not saying we SHOULD but we can use that in negotiations). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damaged89 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 I think Holmes is a better option for Sanchez. How many times did he break a play open on a simple quick slant? He's a young QB's best friend. Braylon is a better vertical deep threat, but as it was mentioned in another thread.....we can bring in Randy Moss to do that (not saying we SHOULD but we can use that in negotiations). I'm torn on who I'd rather see them resign first. I agree with you that Holmes is a more versatile and polished receiver, but he makes me nervous. I don't know if he had a down year or what, but he made a ton of awful mistakes to go along with the big plays. I still haven't forgiven him for the Miami game. Braylon seems to want to be here more, actually blocks (an important trait for a wideout on this team), and for whatever reason the offense seemed to function better when he was the focus of the passing game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Give Him the Damn Contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Give Him the Damn Contract. sign Edwards, Plax, and Moss if he seems like he is motivated. Screw Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vudu Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Give Him the Damn Contract. Not before Braylon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetfan13 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 We lost to the stinking dol-fags cause Holmes dropped a perfect pass right in his hands in the end zone..the dol-fags...sign Edwards, Holmes mouth sometimes gets in his way and he can't see straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfGlennFoley Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Edwards, a healthy Cotch, and Keller are a more than competent receiving corp. Get rid of Holmes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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