Once the New York Jets drafted tight end Dustin Keller, incumbent Chris Baker’s days were numbered. By trading up to select the Purdue product with the 30th overall pick, head coach Eric Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum’s voices were clearly heard that the team was looking for an upgrade at the position and were tiring of Baker’s demands for a contract extension.

On the outset of a mandatory mini-camp, Baker was not thrilled to be there. “It is what it is,” the veteran said. “I have to be here, so that’s why I’m here today.”

Baker is in a similar situation as offensive lineman Pete Kendall was a year ago, where the player says that the organization informs him they will renegotiate his current contract after a productive season and a prior reconstruction for salary cap purposes. That soap opera dragged through training camp before Kendall was dealt to Washington, leaving a gaping hole in the team’s line all season long. Looking to avoid a repeat of that disaster, Tannenbaum made the deal to obtain another first round draft pick and add Keller.

The rookie has enough on his mind in his first mini-camp, and cannot be overly concerned about an unhappy teammate, even if the situation directly affects him. “I don’t know what his (Baker’s) situation is at all,” said Keller. “We are going to our meetings and paying attention to our jobs and the main thing for me is to focus on the playbook.”

Hearing Tannenbaum’s take on the situation, it sounds eerily familiar to what was said in 2007 about the Kendall saga. “I had a number of conversations with Cliff (Brady, Baker’s former agent) last year and I’m comfortable with those conversations we had and I think Chris and I just have a difference of opinion about those conversations.”

Baker will be entering his seventh season in the league and 29 games the past two seasons. In 2007, he averaged 10 yards a catch on 41 receptions, 409 yards and three touchdowns. He has become a weapon catching the football and the Queens native uses his 6’3”, 258-pound frame well. He is not known as a good blocking tight end, but has not been a total detriment in that aspect.

The Jets picked up Bubba Franks in the offseason to be the back-up tight end. The former Packer was signed as a free agent and when healthy, is an effective player. Coupled with the drafting of Keller and the fact that the Mangini regime does not look favorably on distractions, the shelf life of Baker’s Jet career should be fairly short.

The brass can spin it any way they like, saying the usual things like they expect Baker to be a part of the team. They are also trying to disassociate this situation from Kendall’s, when it is blatantly obvious that they are very similar. An unhappy veteran who feels that money is owed to him, and neither one may be totally wrong.

Baker is currently the third-highest paid tight end on the Jets. While this may be hard to explain, Tannenbaum does not agree. “I think the complexities of the salary cap make all of these judgments very subjective,” he said. Nice try. Tell that to your starting tight end.

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