NY Jets Finally Get Their Man, Trade For Braylon Edwards
By Brian Miller
The New York Jets have been the subject of much speculation regarding the WR position since way back in free agency. They failed to land their guy then and as training camp approached they failed to land anyone. The Jets entered the season with Chansi Stuckey and Jericho Cotchery today, they rid themselves of Stuckey and add former Cleveland Brown problem child Braylon Edwards.
The trade of Edwards is unique in that the AFC East, sans the Dolphins, have 3 of the most publicized problem WR’s in the entire NFL. If somehow Miami could swing a deal for Bengals WR Chad Ocho-Cinco, the AFC East would harbor them all. Edwards joins New England Patriot whiner (albeit a well behaved one for now) Randy Moss and the Buffalo Bills lady in waiting Terrell Owens.
To get Edwards, the Jets needed to ship Stuckey, a LB, and 2 as yet to be revealed draft picks…and they needed Edwards to take a couple of swings at an entertainment bookie in Cleveland to put the finishing touches on negotiations. Edwards was an all world prospect coming out of college and there was a lot of hub-bub surrounding his drafting. It was reported that Cleveland was trying to move up with Miami to the number 2 slot to take Edwards for fear that Miami may be trading down with another team to take him. The Dolphins didn’t move the pick and selected Ronnie Brown. The Browns got their man and his mental issues.
On the field, Edwards played well out of the gate but faltered just as quick. He has developed a case of the dropsies and has made little to no impact in the Browns passing game. With new HC Rex Ryan calling the shots now in New York it will be interesting to see how the head case develops in the city that never sleeps. New York is not Cleveland and while Browns’ fans are rabid, Jets fans are simply cruel.
The Dolphins will now face another top WR two times a year. Rookies Vontae’ Davis and Sean Smith have faced Terrell Owens once and held him to 3 catches for 60 yards but have yet to face Randy Moss this season and now Braylon Edwards. By far, on paper at least, the AFC East now has three of the more potent WR’s in the league. Of course the Dolphins themselves have nothing close to a number 1 WR themselves.
If there is any good that comes out of this the AFC East opponents for the Phins have taken steps to help the progress of the Miami Dolphins young CB’s. Rather than learn the NFL ropes by facing guys like Chansi Stuckey, the Phins get to learn from 2 of the best and one of the “could be’s”. The Phins face the Jets this Monday night and it’s likely that they will face Edwards right of the gate. Rex Ryan isn’t going to go to Miami with his number 1 riding pine. The question is will this help the Jets or hinder them. Matt Sanchez should have enough to keep him busy but trying to get Edwards into the game could be demanding as well.
In any case, the Jets finally got their number 1 WR, the question now is will he ever be a number 1 WR?