Jets Sign Franks
by: Patrick Hickey, Jr. | Senior Writer - NY Sports Day | Friday, March 21, 2008
Weeks after being bought out of the last year of his contract with the Green Bay Packers, three-time Pro Bowl Tight-End Bubba Franks was signed to a one-year contract by the New York Jets on Monday, adding even more depth to what has been a productive offseason for Gang Green.
Coming off of one of the worst offensive seasons of his career in 2007 with only 18 receptions for 132 yards, Franks won’t be forced to reproduce the numbers from his glory days in 2001-03, but he will be asked to be a productive backup to Chris Baker, who is coming off the best season of his career. With 32 TD receptions for his career, Franks can still be a weapon in the red-zone and will give the Jets more options on offense than last season.
Withother seasoned veterans joining the offense in recent weeks such asAlan Fanaca, Tony Richardson and Damien Woody, the Jets offense will bebetter, but the jury is still out on who their quarterback will be oncethe season begins. Chad Penningtonstill has three years and an option on his current contract which hashim slated to make $4.8 million this season. However, he may be askedto restructure his current contract, which hits the Jets for $7.8million in cap space. Pennington has also stressed his desire to startand Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum has also said that he willentertain offers for the former-pro bowler. Backup quarterback KellenClemens will also be competing for a starting spot this season, makingthe Jets decision a pressing one.
The question also remains if star wide receiver Laveranues Coles will remain a Jet this offseason after no-showing the start of the team’s offseason conditioning program.
On the defensive front, it appears that the Jets are shopping defensive tackle Dewayne Robertsonafter trading for behemoth nose tackle Kris Jenkins. A better fit inthe Jets new 3-4 defensive alignment, Jenkins has effectively put Robertson on the trading block. As a matter of fact, after the Jenkinsdeal was completed, the Jets attempted to trade Robertson to the Cincinnati Bengals,but the deal fell through, currently leaving the 6’1”, 310-poundlineman without a position on the team that drafted him in the firstround six seasons ago.
"We were close today, but he's a member of our organization," Tannenbaum said. "Our offseason program starts Mar. 17and, unless something happens between now and then, we expect him to behere."
The question remains, however, if that will be the case.
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