Sports Radio Interviews

Mike Tannenbaum: “We Felt It Was a Risk Worth Taking”

This post was written by Chris Fedor of WKNR in Cleveland.  The Jets are off to a great start this season.  They are 3-1 under new head coach Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez looks like the real deal at quarterback and they have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but yet they made a trade yesterday to better their football team.  The Jets were lacking a true number one wide receiver.  While Jerricho Cotchery is a nice, solid wideout in the NFL, they still never replaced Laveranues Coles after he bolted for Cincinnati in the offseason.  And it’s debatable whether Coles was ever a number one anyway.  Enter Braylon Edwards, who I think will make the Jets a complete football team.

There are lots of things you can say about Braylon Edwards and he may have a lot of baggage.  People may say that he drops too many passes to be an elite wide receiver in the league, he may be a bit of a head case, enjoys the nightlife off the field maybe a bit too much and has had his dedication to the game questioned at times.  The one thing you can’t ignore is his unique set of physical tools for the wide receiver position.  He has all the ability and the talent to be an elite wide receiver in the NFL, he is a true difference maker on the field, forces a defense to game plan for his abilities and has a unique combination of size, speed and athleticism for the position.  If he could ever shake the dropsies and keep his head in the game, he could be an elite wide receiver in the NFL.  Two years ago, he showed that ability with a Pro Bowl season in 2007 for the Browns.  The Jets are hoping that he can return to that form and he can be the piece that completes their team and takes them to the top of the AFC.

Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum joined Michael Kay on ESPN 1050 in New York to talk about the acquisition of Braylon Edwards and why they were willing to take a risk like this.

On the trade that went down involving Braylon Edwards:

“We’re excited to add Braylon to the mix for us.  We’ve had ongoing discussions.  We’re excited about Braylon.  We’re disappointed to lose two good players and two good people in Chansi Stuckey and Jason Trusnik, but as we know, to get value we have to give up value.  It was a hard decision for Mr. (Woody) Johnson, Rex (Ryan)  and myself, but at the end of the day, we thought that’s what was best for the team.”

Why Edwards was worth the risk despite his struggles last year:

“You look at his age, he’s 26 years old, the last three seasons he has 25 touchdowns and we think with David Clowney, Jerricho Cotchery, Dustin Keller and Leon Washington, that gives us a significant enhancement in our passing offense.  We think he’s going to help in the passing game, but we think its going to set up more space in the running game as well.”

On the allegations of the field against Edwards:

“Last night we did speak to the league and we spoke to some Ohio Law Enforcement people and we’re comfortable adding Braylon to our team.  We’ll cooperate with the league if and when that’s necessary.  We did take that into account when we made this transaction and felt comfortable with that.” 

On whether this is something that happened because of the first four games:

“We’ve been looking at every opportunity to improve the team, not necessarily just the wide receiver position.  Although we felt good about the wide receivers that we have on our team, we thought if there was an opportunity to improve the depth of that position, we would like to do so.  We’re really excited to get Braylon.  Obviously there have been some inconsistencies in his play, but we really feel like his ability can help us and I think he’s going to take a group where there is some talent and make it even better.”

On the information they got regarding a possible suspension:

“It has to do with the league’s personal conduct policy where a player may or may not be relative to what stages he may be in and then we tried to get as much information as possible on what may have happened Sunday night.  We got as much information as we could in a short amount of time.  Our security director did a great job and based on not only what the league’s policy was but also what we think happened on Sunday night, that information made us comfortable enough to go ahead and make the trade.  It certainly was a factor, but at the end of the day, getting all that information, we were okay with it.”

Listen to Mike Tannenbaum on ESPN Radio New York with Michael Kay (1:20 into podcast)

Tags: Braylon Edwards, Braylon Edwards traded to Jets, Cleveland Browns, Mike Tannenbaum, New York Jets