By Tom Rock
First, some signings that came in a little too late last night to make it into the paper. The Jets signed K Justin Ayat and OT Marko Cavka. Ayat is in just to take some of the kicking duties off Mike Nugent’s leg. Cavka has a chance to make the team. He was a sixth-round pick by the Jets in 2004 and made the team that year (though he was never active for any games). He played for the Amsterdam Admirals last season.
Today’s the big move-in day for the Jets, as they drag a month’s worth of provisions into the dorms at Hofstra University. The big question is whether or not Pete Kendall will show up. Apparently very few people are privy to the answer because I just spoke with his agent, Neil Schwartz, who said he didn’t know what Pete would do. Kendall is asking for a $1 million raise, money he says is owed him from a previous restructure, and made it clear he wanted to be traded or released when he spoke at minicamp last month. If Kendall is a holdout, it would cost his $14,000 per day in fines. If he feels he can get the money, I suppose taking a few extra days of summer vacation might be worth the investment. But it doesn’t seem as if the Jets are about to budge, as Mangini has told people he expects Kendall to report with the rest of the team. There have been other reports that Kendall will show up at camp on time, and if he does he could become a real headache for Jets management. Imagine the first day of training camp as the Jets unveil their prized running back for the first time and welcome back a healthy Chad Pennington with all the optimism in the world, and all of the cameras and reporters will be surrounding Kendall waiting for him to go off. Kendall called the minicamp attention he received a circus. Training camp could be worse.
We’re also keeping an eye on negotiations between the Jets and their top two draft picks, first-rounder Darrelle Revis and second-rounder David Harris. 1997 was the last time the Jets had a first-rounder unsigned at the start of training camp. For the front office, there’s a lot of work to get done before the on-the-field work begins Friday morning.
Comments (4)
Time to cut Kendall loose. Jets don't need the distraction. Move on.
You can't cut the guy loose. It sends a very dangerous message: that you can get out of your contract by playing hardball.
You sit down with kendall and you say this: "Look, we have your rights through this season, and you're 34 years old. We have the right and the ability to retain your rights until next season. if you would prefer to sit out and then enter the market in 2008 as a 35-year-old guard who hasn't played football in a year, you're welcome to do so. Failing that, we can arrange a deal wherein you agree to play out this season at the contract price, and we'll give you a player option for next season at $2 million. Your call.
NFL player contracts are bull. The team can cut a guy whenever- he gets nothing that wasn't guaranteed. This is completely different from MLB or NBA. I don't know if Pete is right or wrong about what he thinks he is owed. I don't want to see the team hurt in their focus on this season and especially that home opener.