Is there a more active NFL personnel executive than the Jet's Mike Tannenbaum when it comes to the trade market? In the wake of New York's decisive move for spiralling Steelers' receiver Santonio Holmes (pictured right) yesterday, you'd be hard pushed to argue otherwise.
Tannenbaum's name has become synonymous with trades in recent years. The onetime salary cap specialist for Bill Parcells has evolved into a GM with a very clear manifesto: establish which players he believes are difference makers, then do whatever it takes to get hold of them, shipping out picks and players in daring quantities along the way.
With Eric Mangini as his coach in 2007, Tannenbaum pulled off draft day swaps for franchise CB Darelles Revis and MLB David Harris, in both cases packaging picks to move up in the draft. They were two of just three total selections Tannenbaum made that year, and he gave up first, second, third, fifth and six round picks in the process. Quality, not quantity, must have been the mantra.
In 2008, Tannenbaum was at it again when given the chance to acquire Brett Favre. Favre was brought in for a conditional fourth rounder, signalling the end of the Chad Pennington era and – at least until week 12 when the Jets sat 8-3 – providing a glimmer of championship hope to a long subdued franchise.
Also a big part of that push was NT Kris Jenkins, brought in beforehand for third and fifth round draft choices in April's draft, the same draft which saw the Jets trade back into the first round – for the price of another fourth rounder – for TE Dustin Keller.
Tannenbaum, you have to admit, really does love a trade or two.
No surprise then when the Jets gave up a ton of picks and players including DE Kenyon Coleman and third QB Brett Ratliff in a swap with Cleveland for the number five pick overall in the 2009 draft, a selection which would turn into new face of the franchise Mark Sanchez.
Nor when, at the top of the second day, he was at it again, trading the majority of the Jets' remaining choices to Detroit for the top selection in round three and a shot at another player he deemed unmissable – emerging RB Shonn Greene. Mid-season, he also gave up two draft picks, WR Chansi Stuckey and LB Jason Trusnik for receiver Braylon Edwards, a former top-fiver himself.
In 2010, the Jets trades have taken on a new level of risk. The focus on elite talent remains, but with ultra-motivational coach Rex Ryan on board, the feeling is that even problem players can be managed – if not enthused to a degree where accountability comes organically. Along with Edwards – liable for an NFL suspension in the wake of an incident in a Cleveland nightclub in '09 – comes CB Antonio Cromartie, whose baggage includes missing child support payments and a lack of effort in the Chargers' playoff run – and now Holmes, whose rap list is as long as the funky cigarettes he so openly talks about smoking of a morning.
Above all, Tannenbaum believes in accruing talent, and on the back of New York's first championship game appearance since 1999, he's in a position to go for broke, as safe as his job now seems.
He hasn't always made the right choices –a trade for Eagles' CB Lito Sheppard tanked when it became apparent he had little left, and the selection of DE/LB Vernon Gholston remains a deeply dubious decision two years ago – but he has been bold, and that boldness has set the tone for a franchise that, these days, likes to talk big through the mouthpieces of coach Ryan, players and, increasingly, owner Woody Johnson.
The Jets are not rare in that their attitude is 'win now'; not rare in that they make courageous moves to acquire veteran talent who can help them push for spoils right away.
But they are rare in that – with a coach and a quarterback in just their second seasons – they're under no real compulsion to do it.
With nine of the Jets' 22 projected starters acquired by Tannenbaum trade and increasingly ambitious expectations weighing on a talented roster, the question of whether all this daring and bravado translates into New York becoming an AFC super power will be one of the stories of the 2010 NFL season.
But rest assured, there'll be more Tannenbaum trades to chew over in April's draft before we get to all that.
Is there a more active NFL personnel executive than the Jet's Mike Tannenbaum when it comes to the trade market? In the wake of New York's decisive move for spiralling Steelers' receiver Santonio Holmes (pictured right) yesterday, you'd be hard pushed to argue otherwise.