Jets Headed for Another Ugly Battle with a Star Player

Posted by Matt Loede on February 17th, 2008 filed in Opinions

It seems like the Jets are going to find themselves in the exact same position they did last season - with a quality player making claims of a promise of upper brass promising him a new deal. This time it’s wide out Laveranues Coles, who has come out and said the team “lied” to him about a long-term deal that now appears is not going to come his way. Coles, who has two years left on his contract, wants to go somewhere and find security, and it looks like it’s not going to be with the Jets.

Remember the scene last season when guard Pete Kendell spent more time during camps and the summer making the same types of claims. Kendell said he was due a hefty pay raise for a job well done, but by the time the back and forth was all said and done, Kendell was opening up holes for Clinton Portis as a member of the Redskins with a new deal there.

Back to Coles, the wide out may be on the downside of his career (9 seasons), but he still played at a high level last season for a team that was going nowhere fast with a QB shuffle between Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens. Coles playing in an offense like the Colts, Chargers or Bengals would be dangerous, but in New York wearing green he’s just a player trying to make a play in a system that can’t decide if they should run or throw half the time.

As far as the claims go, there has to be some truth to them if you take into consideration what happened with Kendell last season. The Jets front office had better start doing one of two things - either A: start paying players that are stars on this team the money they are worth - or B: stop making promises of raises or long term deals. It going to effect other players coming via free agency, if it hasn’t already.