2007 Pennington’s last year in New York?

Posted by Stephen Rhodes on November 29th, 2007 filed in News, Opinions

New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington is sounding more like a player who may have seen his last days in a Jets uniform.  According to the New York Daily News, Pennington said that he is looking at different scenarios and avenues for next season.  Pennington added, “I see myself as a starter and I see myself as helping a football team win.  Obviously, evaluations will be made on both sides and we’ll see what happens.”

That may be true - in Pennington’s mind - but bear in mind that Pennington isn’t in a position to void his current contract, but there’s an outside chance that he may request either a trade or a release from the club.  Another thing to consider is his salary for 2008; he is due to make $4.8 million, leading to speculation that the Jets may either trade or release him no matter what he wants to do.

Pennington wouldn’t answer directly about whether he would return to the Jets if promised the starting QB job in 2008; however, the closest he came to responding was when he told the Daily News, “When that time comes, I’ll sit down with my wife and family and decide what’s best for us.  Right now, I try to put that aside because it takes away from me being a good teammate. I don’t want that to happen.”  All that political correctness from Pennington aside, I think the Jets will get rid of Pennington and install current starter Kellen Clemens as the starter for 2008 and beyond.