Cimini: Age-Old Issue: When to say Goodbye

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Age-old issue: When to say goodbye

May, 17, 2011

May 17

12:27

PM ET

By Rich Cimini

General managers will tell you it's one of the hardest decisions they have to make, knowing when to say goodbye to a popular player whose skills have succumbed to Father Time -- or knowing how to handle the phasing-out of that player. The Yankees are experiencing something like that now with Jorge Posada, and it's not pretty.

The Jets have made several tough decisions in recent years on older players, decisions that seemed unpopular at the time they were made. For the most part, GM Mike Tannenbaum and his staff have been on the money, although these calls are harder to evaluate in football than baseball because of the team nature of the sport.

Right now, Tannenbaum has a few of those decisions on his plate -- namely DE Shaun Ellis, RB LaDainian Tomlinson, QB Mark Brunell, FB Tony Richardson and LB Jason Taylor. From all indications, the Jets have decided to keep Tomlinson, almost 32, for one more season. The same goes for Brunell, 40, but that could come back to bite them if something happens to Mark Sanchez. It looks like Richardson, 39, is a goner. Ellis, almost 34, is up in the air, depending on his contract demands as a free agent. Taylor, 36, is a long shot to return.

Let's take a look at some of the Jets' recent over-30 cuts:

• NT Kris Jenkins. Because of injuries and salary, this wasn't a tough decision. The Jets have a solid nose tackle in Sione Pouha, and they feel they drafted Jenkins' long-term replacement, picking Kenrick Ellis in the third round. Verdict: Jury still out.

• RT Damien Woody. Again, this was dictated by injuries and salary. This was riskier than the Jenkins move because, as of now, there is no proven replacement. They're gambling on Vladimir Ducasse. Verdict: Jury still out, way out.

• LG Alan Faneca (2010). This was controversial, risky and unconventional. The Jets ate $5 million to cut a potential Hall of Famer, asking a couple of unknowns -- Ducasse and Matt Slauson -- to battle for the job. The Jets suffered in the short term, as Slauson experienced major growing pains, but he settled down. Faneca started every game for the Cards, but he wasn't the Faneca of old -- and he knew it. It probably factored into his decision to retire last week. Verdict: A win for the Jets.

• RB Thomas Jones (2010). Another unpopular decision. Jones was coming off a career year, but he faded toward the end of the '09 season and Jets felt he was almost out of gas and not worth his $5 million salary. Jones was a productive player last season for the Chiefs, rushing for 896 yards, but his yards-per-carry dropped significantly, from 4.2 to 3.7. The Jets replaced him with Tomlinson, who rushed for 914 yards, a 4.2 average and provided a new dimension to the offense as a receiver. Verdict: Win for the Jets.

• WR Laveranues Coles (2009). They parted ways with one of the best receivers in team history after a 70-catch season, thinking young WR Chansi Stuckey could step in. The Jets were right about Coles; he showed little in '09 for the Bengals, finishing with 43 catches and a 12.0 average. Stuckey wasn't the answer, and they went out and traded for Braylon Edwards a month into the season. Verdict: A win for the Jets -- but a costly, delayed win.

In recent years, the only aging player who thrived after being released by the Jets was C Kevin Mawae, who was cut after the '05 season. In 2008, at the age of 37, Mawae was named All-Pro for the Titans. It's hard to quibble with this decision, though, because the Jets replaced him with Nick Mangold, a first-round pick in '06. He was All-Pro in '09 and '10.

QB Chad Pennington is borderline in this category. He was 32 when he was released, but it wasn't about age; it was because Woody Johnson developed a man crush on Brett Favre. And, yes, the Jets got burned in '06 because Pennington led the Dolphins to the division title and the Jets ... well, you know the story.

The Jets have released or traded several players that have gone on to success elsewhere -- Danny Woodhead, Leon Washington, Jonathan Vilma, John Abraham,Kerry Rhodes, et al. Most of those moves were dictated by contract demands and scheme changes. They were all players in their prime, but at least the Jets received something in return -- in most cases, anyway.

But when it comes to the outright dumping of older players, the Jets usually know what they're doing.

[Green DNA]

LG Alan Faneca (2010). This was controversial, risky and unconventional. The Jets ate $5 million to cut a potential Hall of Famer, asking a couple of unknowns -- Ducasse and Matt Slauson -- to battle for the job. The Jets suffered in the short term, as Slauson experienced major growing pains, but he settled down. Faneca started every game for the Cards, but he wasn't the Faneca of old -- and he knew it. It probably factored into his decision to retire last week. Verdict: A win for the Jets.

If I remember correctly, Cimini ripped the Jets to shreds when Faneca was cut. Well Mr T and Rex actually knew better than this toolbag, whaddya know. It's time for Cimini to say goodbye.

[BroadwayJ667]

LG Alan Faneca (2010). This was controversial, risky and unconventional. The Jets ate $5 million to cut a potential Hall of Famer, asking a couple of unknowns -- Ducasse and Matt Slauson -- to battle for the job. The Jets suffered in the short term, as Slauson experienced major growing pains, but he settled down. Faneca started every game for the Cards, but he wasn't the Faneca of old -- and he knew it. It probably factored into his decision to retire last week. Verdict: A win for the Jets.

If I remember correctly, Cimini ripped the Jets to shreds when Faneca was cut. Well Mr T and Rex actually knew better than this toolbag, whaddya know. It's time for Cimini to say goodbye.

Verdict: Win for the Jets

[CoachTsurfing]

I hate we let danny go. huge mistake for us. mainly because the pats used him better then we did.

[KSJets]

Sonofabitch...I read that title and thought it was going to be Cimini leaving, never to be heard from again

[Integrity28]

The Jets have released or traded several players that have gone on to success elsewhere -- Danny Woodhead, Leon Washington, Jonathan Vilma, John Abraham,Kerry Rhodes, et al. Most of those moves were dictated by contract demands and scheme changes. They were all players in their prime, but at least the Jets received something in return -- in most cases, anyway.

But when it comes to the outright dumping of older players, the Jets usually know what they're doing.

This is dumb.

It sucks they dumped Woodhead, but that's what you do with kids that can't crack the lineup.

Leon Washington was a smart trade. He hasn't exactly "gone on to success" in Seattle either. He was more relevant and played better as a Jet.

Vilma was the stupidest decision that has been brought up - but converting to a 3-4 is part of the chain of events that brought Rex here. Rex >>>> Vilma

Mangold >>> Abraham by a landslide.

Rhodes sucks, and became toxic in the locker room.

None of these moves have really hurt the Jets, and most of these players saw their best days with the Jets - except Woodhead. Lame article.

[jason423]

Are any of these really big decisions? Maybe Ellis since he has been here so long? The issue of the aging veteran is really not much of a concern in the NFL unless the person hits a contract at a time when you really need the guy but also know that the deal will bite you in the long run. The Jets signed LT when he was old. They didnt expect much and its not a tough decision at this point that is going to change the game. In general its rare that age is a major factor the way it is in a sport with long term guaranteed deals. The Yankees probably had to think a few times before signing A-Rod to the monster deal they did (and the GM probably did not want to do it) because they knew they would be stuck with him for the entire contract and paying him a fortune. In the NFL you can give a player a monster deal on paper and walk away in a year if its structured properly. Certainly you can walk away before the player falls off a cliff. The Jets actually thought they protected themselves from Faneca but the uncapped year screwed them over. But you will never see a team in this day and age in the NFL fall into what the Yankees are going through right now, which is why Cimini wrote the article.

[Larz]

so cimini didn't find any inspiration here for an article, so he goes with the posada thing. mmmmk. in football it's very harsh unless you are a QB, and we really don't need to worry about that

[Sperm Edwards]

This is dumb.

It sucks they dumped Woodhead, but that's what you do with kids that can't crack the lineup.

Leon Washington was a smart trade. He hasn't exactly "gone on to success" in Seattle either. He was more relevant and played better as a Jet.

Vilma was the stupidest decision that has been brought up - but converting to a 3-4 is part of the chain of events that brought Rex here. Rex >>>> Vilma

Mangold >>> Abraham by a landslide.

Rhodes sucks, and became toxic in the locker room.

None of these moves have really hurt the Jets, and most of these players saw their best days with the Jets - except Woodhead. Lame article.

Vilma still gets run over with New Orleans. He's a good player but the problem wasn't trading him so much as trading him too late. Mangini had a chance to see Vilma in his 3-4 and he was ill-fit for it. So they kept him for his 4th and final contract season so he had no trade value. The bad timing on pulling the trigger was only compounded by Vilma's injury halfway through his final contract year here.

Agree with the rest, and in particular on Leon (not because of anything bad regarding Leon but because of all the controversy here over his contract the prior year and then with the trade). It was smart to not extend him to a starting-RB contract and it was smart to trade him when they did. Leon did have that one game where he returned 2 kicks for TDs, but the Jets weren't exactly starving for a decent kick returner in 2010 (let alone one that would cost more than his worth on a salary cap plus passing up on Seattle's 4th round draft pick). Leon had more than 5 touches on offense exactly one time in 2010. Seattle thought so much of him as a RB that, with a totally healthy Leon Washington, they pulled off a mid-season trade to acquire...a running back!

[THE ILK]

Rep for Sperm and the monkey!

[bitonti]

• RT Damien Woody. Again, this was dictated by injuries and salary. This was riskier than the Jenkins move because, as of now, there is no proven replacement. They're gambling on Vladimir Ducasse. Verdict: Jury still out, way out.

i dont get why people say this was a bad move. the dude is a 350 pound middle aged man who blew out his achilles. this isn't an ACL tear it's an achilles tear, way way more serious. the calf muscle rolls up like a 1940's window shade. it's a terrible often career ending injury. It's not like Damien Woody is going to be playing for some other team. he's probably on a couch right now... on the long-term road to recovery and honestly, he might never get back. the track record for old dudes and Achilles is super-bleak. the Jets didn't really have a whole lot of good options.

[bitonti]

Rhodes sucks, and became toxic in the locker room.

we don't really know about his locker room toxicity (it's entirely possible)

but it should be noted Football Outsiders ran an article today about the best and worst tackling 2010 safeties, and Rhodes was on neither list. I wonder how bad his tackling really was... meanwhile he scored 4 defensive touchdowns last year and the Jets sure could have used him getting off the field on 3rd downs. just sayin...

[Green DNA]

we don't really know about his locker room toxicity (it's entirely possible)

but it should be noted Football Outsiders ran an article today about the best and worst tackling 2010 safeties, and Rhodes was on neither list. I wonder how bad his tackling really was... meanwhile he scored 4 defensive touchdowns last year and the Jets sure could have used him getting off the field on 3rd downs. just sayin...

The only reason he wasn't on the worst tackling list is because he never makes a tackle. He just waits around until someone else makes the tackle, jumps on the pile and then jumps up and starts pounding his chest. Rex saw right through that nonsense and that's why he is no longer here.