At first glance, the move would appear to make sense for the Jets–they’ve lacked a big name wide receiver this season, who can stretch the field and take some pressure off of the running game.  Led by a defense that is ranked 3rd in points allowed and 4th in yardage allowed in the NFL and the effective (if not spectacular, for a rookie) play of QB Mark Sanchez, the team started 3-0.

But the Jets passing game is also ranked 27th in the NFL after four games, and Sanchez looked more like a rookie QB last week against the Saints, a team that, while improved defensively, has not had a reputation for having a stout defense in recent years.  And while the running game is currently ranked 9th in the NFL by yardage, that can’t be expected to continue if the team can’t effectively move the ball through the air, as teams will start to put 8-9 guys in the box regularly to stop Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.

Edwards brings to the Jets a rare combination of size and speed, and the pedigree of being a #3 overall pick, in the  2005 draft.  But to be honest, that’s about all the positivity that he brings to the table for the Jets.

He also brings a reputation for dropping passes (tied with Brandon Marshall for the most in the NFL over the last 2+ seasons), and a reputation for being a bit of a head case.  Just in the last week, he failed to catch a pass in the Browns overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and was the accused of punching a friend of NBA star LeBron James, who claims that Edwards has always been jealous of him.

In his career, he has also accused Cleveland fans of not appreciating him because of his Michigan roots, gotten into a sideline altercation with quarterback Charlie Frye, and was late to at least one team meeting due to attending the famed Michigan-Ohio State game, after being advised by team veterans not to.  He was also fined $150 and given 30 hours of community service last November after being found guilty of driving 120 MPH, and was partying in Miami with fellow Browns WR Donte Stallworth the night that Stallworth struck and killed a man while driving drunk (although Edwards was not with Stallworth at the time).

Playing in Cleveland, Edwards is used to playing in front of fans that are rabid, and will be on his case for dropping passes–although, I don’t ever remember the Dawg Pound cheering as one of their own players crawled off the field injured before.

Added to the fans will be the increased media scrutiny–even as the red-headed step-child to the Giants in New York, it’s likely that Edwards never faced the type of media criticism in the media hot beds of Cleveland and Ann Arbor that he will face in New York.

Edwards is also in a contract season–the time of a career when many players step up their games.  So far this season, Edwards has failed to do so–will that continue in New York, or will he finally regain his 2007 season form?  And will the Jets make an effort to resign him before the end of the season, or will they risk letting the player they just traded for walk away?

Finally, one must also take into consideration that Edwards will be going to a new team–while the offense may be similar to the one run in Cleveland (as much of Cleveland’s staff was in New York last year), he hasn’t really proven that he’s great in that offense yet–and he’ll be trying to establish a rhythm with a new quarterback–just ask Roy Williams, who had an even better track record than Edwards in the NFL, and struggled mightily when he was traded to the Cowboys last season.

In the end, the Jets clearly felt they had to make a move to compete over the full season in the AFC–with New England in their division, Baltimore and Indianapolis playing at extremely high levels, Pittsburgh and San Diego still talented but struggling a bit, and Denver…well, playing so far above what anyone expected it’s ridiculous, even making the playoffs could be a struggle.

The question now is whether this move is one that will actually help the Jets, or whether it will actually set them back even further.

Eight picks into the draft and the Zoneblitz mock draft is shot.

The New York Jets, as many expected, moved up to make a play at a quarterback. The shock to me is how little it took for them to move up from 17 to 5 in order to grab Mark Sanchez, the USC underclassman. The Jets give up the 17th pick, a 2nd round pick and three decent-at-best players – must’ve been guys Eric Mangini, former Jets and new Browns coach, liked while he was in the Big Apple.

I know the “trade chart” that puts point values on all the draft positions has gone out the window with the ridiculous money the top six or seven guys get every year. But as a rebuilding organization, the Browns need to do better than adding just a second rounder and three likely backups to move down that far.

Then the Oakland Raiders shocked everyone once again by leaving Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree on the board to grab Darrius Heyward-Bey, who reminds my brother a lot of another wide receiver that went at the seventh position a few years back, one Troy Williamson.

So far, in my eyes, the Jets are the big winner. They get their potential franchise quarterback without giving up what they should have had to. And the Raiders, who were mocked last year on Zoneblitz and elsewhere for their ridiculous free agency spending, have managed to again become a laughingstock. Heyward-Bey may very well become a very solid NFL wide receiver. But they could have gotten him several picks later.

…

Bwahaha haha hahah haha

Sorry. Just flipped on ESPN and Sal Paolantonio reported that the Cleveland Browns are willing to trade butter-fingered wideout Braylon Edwards to the New York Giants – in exchange for defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka AND a first-round draft choice.

Yes, that’s correct – Cleveland wants a first-round pick AND a starting quality defensive end for a wide receiver that dropped as many passes as he caught last season.

Yes, the 2007 version of Edwards when he caught 80 passes for 16 touchdowns and nearly 1,300 yards was impressive. But it’s the only one of his four seasons in the NFL when he has justified the first rounder Cleveland spent on him in the first place.

Meanwhile, Kiwanuka is coming off of a 50 tackle, eight sack season, giving him 16.5 sacks in three seasons. He’s expendable – the Giants are incredibly deep on the defensive line – but it’s hard to blame New York for not being willing to part with him AND a first for the inconsistent and enigmatic wideout.

The Giants, who recently cut Plaxico Burress following his legal woes, have reportedly countered by offering a second and a fifth. Worst case scenario for them, they take one of the three or four receivers that are pegged for the bottom third of the first round.

Hopefully for the sake of Browns fans, Cleveland somehow jolts back into reality. It’s probably in their best interests to make a move with Edwards, as they did with Kellen Winslow, and start over with the new Eric Mangini regime.

But if they get stubborn and stick to ridiculous demands like these with the Giants or any other NFL team, they can count on Edwards being on the roster when training camp starts in a couple months.

He was suspended once this past season for conduct detrimental to the team when he spouted off to the media about the Browns’ issues with staph infection, after having been shushed by the public relations staff.

He has two 80-plus catch seasons and one 1,000-yard season out of five, but has caught just 11 touchdowns and has done nothing – nothing at all – to resemble the player the Browns thought they were getting when they drafted him sixth overall in 2004.

So, what does Tampa Bay do? They give up a 2nd round pick in 2009 and a 5th in 2010 in February to acquire him – and then this week sign him six-year, $36 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.

There are few tight ends I’d consider giving that kind of money. Jason Witten in Dallas is probably worth it. Antonio Gates has been the best in the game for most of the last half-decade. Tony Gonzalez was probably worth it at one point during his career.

But Kellen Winslow?

Sorry. This guy has a ton of talent, but he’s been a far bigger talker than producer in the NFL so far. And sure, he’s heading back to Florida where he played for the Miami Hurricanes in college. But it says here that the guy who once claimed during an interview in college to be a soldier should have had to produce on the field for a season or two before the Bucs should have thought about giving him the money they just threw him.

So, how does he thank the Bucs for their inexplicable generosity? Well, he showed up for minicamp, according to TheLedger.com. But he showed up late and didn’t participate, at least in the morning session.

No official word was given as to why.

Good luck, Bucs, with that investment. My guess? You’ll quickly find out why the Browns were willing to give him up.

The team is unproven, at best, and more than likely more like putrid at wide receiver with Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, Earl Bennett and possibly Marty Booker competing for playing time. Cutler will make them a little better, but expecting too much from him in that regard, to borrow a bad cliche, is expecting him to put lipstick on a pig.

The Bears are also less than stellar at offensive tackle. John Tait retired. John St. Clair moved onto Cleveland as a free agent. Last year’s top pick Chris Williams will likely fill one spot. The Bears signed Frank Omiyale and Kevin Shaffer and are rumored to be interested in aging and oft-injured tackle Orlando Pace. But Williams is coming off a back injury and the other three potential options, well, nobody is going to be immortalizing them in bronze in Canton anytime soon.

Chicago certainly upgraded the quarterback position and Cutler is young enough where he is the equivalent of a first rounder – and possibly the equivalent of a first and third rounder. But wow – they gave up two firsts, a third and Kyle Orton. That’s a steep price to pay.

Then again, they were in the Super Bowl two years ago and they missed the playoffs by one game last season. In the weak NFC North, Cutler probably becomes the most talented quarterback in the division. He’ll get more out of the limited wideout potential than Orton could and he could create some opportunities for stud second-year running back Matt Forte just due to the mere threat of his arm.

Under GM Jerry Angelo, the Bears have been averse to high-profile moves. This goes against that philosophy. In the short-term, it makes them more of a threat. But there are a lot of other deficiencies that must be addressed and there are few high draft picks left with which to do that. In addition to shaky tackles and a lack of wideout presence, the defense, long the team’s strong suit, has shown signs that it might be slowing down the last two years.

For the price Chicago paid for Cutler the expectations are going to be high. Can the Bears meet them before guys like Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz, Lance Briggs and Tommie Harris are too broken down to matter?

They better. Because they’ve mortgaged a couple years worth of high draft picks in order to make this deal. If it doesn’t pay off early this deal has the potential to go down as a disaster.

Peppers, who has been with the Carolina Panthers since the 2002 season, expressed his desire to leave the team earlier this offseason, and go to a team that features a 3-4 defense.  The team responded by tagging him as their franchise player.

On the surface, the move might make sense–the Panthers get rid of a disgruntled player, and get something back; Peppers goes to a perennial contender that plays the 3-4 defense he thinks will better suit him; and the Patriots get a big name pass rusher.

Digging in, though, the deal doesn’t really make sense to anyone.

From the Panthers perspective, it seems like they aren’t getting much for a former All-Pro player who had 14.5 sacks in 2008.  In 2008, the Chiefs tagged Jared Allen as their franchise player, when he was coming off of a 15.5 sack All-Pro season.  The Minnesota Vikings traded the Chiefs a 1st round pick, two 3rd round picks, and swapped spots in the 6th round to obtain Allen.  For the Panthers to get significantly less for Peppers seems ridiculous.

The Patriots, while not necessarily giving up a ton, would be getting a player that would likely be looking to make more per season than their star quarterback, Tom Brady–who has repeatedly taken contracts considered less than market price for the good of the team.  Bringing in a high priced defender might upset that balance with Brady.

Additionally, the Patriots have tried bringing in bigger name defensive players to play OLB twice before, in Roosevelt Colvin and Adalius Thomas.  Colvin never lived up to expectations, and Thomas has to be considered a bust so far, given the price and fanfare for bringing him in.  While that’s not a guarantee that Peppers wouldn’t live up to expectations, it is surprising that they’re willing to take that chance again–especially given their lesser name, team first mentality.

Finally, one has to wonder what Peppers is thinking, trying to force his way to a 3-4 defense.  His physical size and speed make him an ideal fit for DE in a 4-3 alignment.  He reportedly wants to play OLB in the 3-4, possibly after seeing the success of DeMarcus Ware and Shawne Merriman.  However, Peppers outweighs both of those players–Ware by about 25 pounds, and Merriman by about 10-15–and one has to wonder if some of Merriman’s freakish early success was aided by illegal substances.

Peppers has never been in a position of frequently playing an OLB type role in the NFL, and some scouts have said they don’t think he would be as effective in the role, given the need to be able to drop into coverage on some plays.  Maybe he could prove those critics wrong–or maybe he could turn himself into a part time player that will face being cut early in his next big contract when his play doesn’t match his pay.

In the end, the trade would probably put the Patriots right back at the top of the list for Super Bowl contenders (not that they were very far off the list already), but one has to wonder if the potential downside of this deal could outweigh the possible benefits all around?

Time will tell–if the deal actually happens.

Cutler, he says, simply isn’t going to be able to get over the perceived slight from head coach Josh McDaniels, who either listened to offers or floated Cutler’s name in trade talks involving Matt Cassel last month.

Eisen said the Broncos could use Chris Simms, if they had to. He didn’t predict a destination for Cutler, though he indicated that Minnesota and Detroit were two teams he said would be foolish to not at least inquire. Eisen named a couple more potential trade partners that I didn’t catch.

I still think Cutler is being a baby and that Denver would be foolish to make such a deal. He’s still young and even if he’s peaked, he’s still among the better quarterbacks in the league right now.

But if it’s going to become a distraction I can see why McDaniels might think the better move would be cutting the cord and moving on. I guess time will tell.

That said, when I wrote this morning’s post I had yet to read Sports Illustrated’s Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column.

The revelation that Cutler had already been upset with the team and asked for a trade when offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, a Cutler confidant, left for USC doesn’t change my mind. But it does raise questions about the genuineness of Cutler’s anger toward being included in talks in the first place.

Further reports throughout the day indicating that Cutler has now locked himself in his room like a petulant child and is refusing to speak with Broncos officials raise questions about his maturity.

Cutler, until proven otherwise, is still a better player than Cassel. His college resume is better, his professional performance is better – Cassel still has to prove that he can repeat the success he had in 2008 without Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Bill Belichick helping him out.

That said, the new information might provide some context for why the Broncos at least felt out what kinds of offers would be available to them.

Now, while the Broncos and Cutler will likely have to make nice there are some reports out there that the quarterback might still be on the market. At least one report indicates that the Minnesota Vikings have inquired about his availability. And KFAN-AM, a Minneapolis sports talk show hasn’t done anything to stop throwing fuel on the fire.

Vikings fans, however, need to take a deep breath. The Broncos are not going to trade Cutler for Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels and a 4th round draft pick, as emailers have apparently suggested to some of the hosts. Those offers are laughable. The Broncos would be foolish to consider trading Cutler without getting either a first round draft choice or an established quarterback in return – neither Rosenfels nor Jackson fit that bill.

To those who are suggesting such an offer, you are making yourself look foolish – far more foolish than either the Broncos or Cutler have looked as news of the Broncos-Patriots-Lions-Bucs talks has leaked.

Over the weekend it was reported that Denver’s rookie coach Josh McDaniels floated – or was at least willing to listen to – offers from Detroit and Tampa Bay that would have sent Cutler away.

Those reported deals would have reunited McDaniels with New England backup Matt Cassel.

Now, McDaniels has been doing some backtracking. According to the Denver Post via the Associated Press, he said “We don’t want to trade Jay. We never did. He’s our quarterback.”

And Cutler has taken the hurt feelings a bit too far. He needs to realize that trade talks happen in football like grade padding happens in college. But one must wonder what McDaniels was thinking when he answered calls from Detroit, Tampa and any other NFL franchise seeking his fourth-year quarterback with anything but a “thanks, but no thanks.”

The numbers Cutler has put up during his first three seasons – some of them ammassed while fighting undiagnosed diabetes – arguably already put him in the top half-dozen or so quarterbacks in the NFL. Even if he has peaked, as some reportedly are concerned, you can win with a guy who throws for 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Remember, the Broncos went 8-8 last year, getting edged by San Diego for the AFC West division championship after losing the last three games. But that had more to do with injuries to 26 running backs and the third-worst scoring defense in the league (448 points allowed).

Denver scored 370 points on offense. By comparison, Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh scored 347 – they just had a defense that allowed fewer than half the points the Broncos managed to allow.

Furthermore, had McDaniels pulled off the deal to land Cassel, he would have been trading for a guy who didn’t start in college, has played one admittedly very solid season in the NFL, and who on the strength of that season has been franchised at nearly $15 million for the 2009 season.

This isn’t to be critical of Cassel. I have my doubts about whether or not he can match what he did last year for New England this year with Kansas City, but that has more to do with coaching and the talent around him. He was very good last year and he has a chance to be a very solid quarterback.

But he’s capitalizing on that to a ridiculous degree. According to Sports Illustrated reporter Peter King, who appeared on the Dan Patrick radio show this morning, many teams are having problems with the idea of paying Cassel what he is going to get. Understandably so – he’s franchised at the moment at nearly $15 million.

All of these factors fall into the camp of keeping Cutler at all costs. Factor in his popularity with the Denver Broncos fans and I’m left wondering just what Denver’s new coach could possibly have been thinking.

John Clayton and John Seibel on ESPN Radio this afternoon were doing some solid analysis of the first couple days of free agency. They’re two of the better hosts out there and they definitely have their hands on the pulse of the league.

But when they said Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe have to be thrilled with the acquisition of Cassel, I’m not sure I agree.

Sure, Cassel had a fantastic season and got better almost every week filling in for Brady after the NFL’s best quarterback tore up his knee in week one. And sure, the Chiefs struggled at quarterback for most of the last couple years.

But Tyler Thigpen started showing signs late in 2008 that his NFL career might have some juice. Gonzalez put up one of his best statistical seasons ever, scoring 10 touchdowns on 96 catches and eclipsing 1,000 yards for the fourth time.

And Bowe followed up a 70 catch rookie season with 86 catches for 1,022 yards and 7 touchdowns.

I’m not disputing that Cassel could likely be a better quarterback than Thigpen – though I have some questions about whether or not he can follow up his successful 2008 when not surrounded by Randy Moss, Wes Welker and the multitude of weapons the Patriots have both on the field and on the sidelines.

I also think it’s perfectly reasonable for new GM Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley to bring in their own guy to run their new offense.

But I am urging caution for Chiefs fans. In order for Gonzalez and Bowe to be completely happy I think there have to be more moves to come. That’s largely because while the Chiefs offense was inconsistent at times during 2008 it was not the main reason the Chiefs went 2-14.

Kansas City lost five games in which the defense gave up 31, 21, 31, 27 and 24 points. The defense gave up 30 or more points seven times while holding teams under 20 points in just four contests.

The Chiefs did also receive veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel in the Cassel deal and that can’t hurt. But Vrabel alone isn’t going to reverse the fortunes of a team that was one of just five to give up more than 400 points last season.

So sure, Cassel likely gives the Chiefs a better option for running a more conventional pro style offense than did Thigpen or oft-injured Brodie Croyle. And Cassel earned the opportunity to go somewhere as a starter in 2009.

But if anyone expects him to duplicate the numbers he put up with New England last year they’re likely going to be highly disappointed, at least for awhile.