Geno Smith could land with fired Jets GM's new agency

Geno Smith gave himself an "F" for failure after his first day in a New York Jets practice uniform last week. But now Gang Green's latest quarterback attraction might be getting an "A" for awkward if he chooses to hire Priority Sports — the current employer of recently fired Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum — as his agency.

That same "F" might have a different meaning to the Jets if Smith huddles with Priority Sports and creates a scenario where the team would somehow be associated with the GM many blame for the team's recent woes.

Asked if it might be seen as disrespectful to the Jets to choose an agency that has hired their old GM, Smith replied, "I don’t think so. I don’t exactly know what their thoughts on that are, but no one’s ever expressed that to me. And overall it’s a decision to where I’m going to make what’s best for me as a player. No matter who I hire, it’s going to be in the best interest of Geno Smith."

Tannenbaum, who was GM of the Jets for seven years, joined Chicago-based Priority Sports and Entertainment last week as president of the coaches, front office and broadcasting division.

Tannenbaum would not personally handle the negotiations for Smith since he is planning on representing coaches, but it could present an interesting possibility nonetheless as the firm with the ousted general manager deals with the rookie quarterback.

Smith has already made a season worth of headlines since joining the Jets just a few weeks ago.

He fired his agents shortly after the NFL draft when he plummeted to the 39th pick, turned the Jets starting quarterback situation into a five-man battle and predicted the team would be in the 2013 playoffs.

So far, Smith completed seven passes in eight attempts in 11-on-11 drills on Saturday, with three false starts and one sack.

Somehow Tebowmania doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Tannenbaum: I was responsible for Tebow trade, Sanchez contract

Mike Tannenbaum spoke to reporters for the first time Tuesday since being fired by the New York Jets on New Year's Eve.

The former Jets general manager — who was piloting the Jets front office while the team fell into disarray — broke his silence to discuss his perceived failures on Super Bowl Radio Row in New Orleans yesterday.

Tannenbaum didn't shy away from his two biggest decisions — the Tim Tebow trade and the re-signing of Mark Sanchez.

Rival NFL executives believe Tannenbaum left a huge mess for new GM John Idzik to clean up but Tannenbaum — who hopes to find a job in the NFL again — disagreed with the scenario the media has painted of his tenure with the Jets.  He had an optimistic slant on the Jets salary-cap fiasco, Idzik's job at hand and the the team's potential.

"The future for the Jets is bright," Tannenbaum said. "There are a lot of good young players ... From a salary-cap standpoint, we had a plan in place.  John's [Idzik] a really smart guy, dealt with the cap, I'm sure he's going to take my plan and tweak it and put his own views on it, but that plan will be played out over the next few weeks."

Tannenbaum was pretty open when it came to some of his most controversial decisions.

On giving Sanchez a contract extension that guaranteed him $8.25 million next season:

“Our thinking on that was Mark is only one of five quarterbacks in the history of pro football to win 30 or more games in his first three years. In the 2011 season, he had scored 32 TDs, 26 throwing and six rushing. Like any contract we do, we thought it would be a win-win. Get cost certainty from a standpoint of we know what he’s going to cost and he gets the benefit of some security. Based on how we played this year, that’s a decision as of now that doesn’t look very good.”

On the ruinous Tebow trade, Tannebaum took sole responsibility:

 “So just going on the Tim decision, we felt like after the 2011 season we lost something with Brad Smith not being there, so we felt like bringing Tim in, he was going to be a guy who could replace Brad’s production. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way we thought it was going to, and ultimately that was my call. But we did have discussions about it, and ultimately that was my decision to make the trade.

“It’s one of those decisions where it didn’t work out the way we thought.”

Tannenbaum even chimed in on the time bomb facing Idzik right now and the rumors Tannenbaum  was trying to shop Darrelle Revis even before his ACL injury in Week 2 last season.  He said if he was still  GM, he'd be discussing the long-term merits of signing the All-Pro cornerback to a mega-deal.

"I didn't have plans to trade Darrelle through this past season," he said.

At no time did Tannenbaum burn any bridges and said he even called Idzik to congratulate his replacement and has spoken with owner Woody Johnson.  He said he enjoyed working with Rex Ryan up until the very end.  The "free agent" hinted that he had entertained a few job offers but wouldn't go into detail.

'I've talked to people on teams and outside of teams," Tannenbaum said. "As of now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

Jets owner fires GM Tannenbaum, keeps coach Rex

Black Monday got off to a quick start today after the New York Jets announced that they had fired general manager Mike Tannenbaum in a not totally unexpected move. Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano is reportedly the next member of the Jets staff who will fall off the team's fiscal cliff.

Owner Woody Johnson said Rex Ryan would remain the head coach.

Johnson, who didn't make the trip to Buffalo to see his wretched team end its season with a 28-9 loss to the Bills, released the following statement Monday morning:

“Our 2012 season was a disappointment to all of us. My goal every year as owner is to build a team that wins consistently. This year, we failed to achieve that goal,” Johnson’s statement read. “This morning, I informed Mike Tannenbaum that he will not return for the 2013 season. Mike devoted 15 years of service to the Jets, and I want to thank him for his hard work and dedication. Although he helped guide us to two consecutive AFC Championship games, we are not where we want to be, and a new General Manager will be critical to getting this team back on the right track.”

"Rex Ryan will remain the head coach of our football team," the owner added.  "I believe that he has the passion, the talent, and the drive to successfully lead out team for greater success going forward."

Johnson said the team will start a search for a new GM through the services of Korn/Ferry International, the same search firm that conducted the NFL commissioner search in 2006. 

"Our process with Korn/Ferry will be led by Jed Hughes, who heads their sports practice and who previously led the general manager search for the Seattle Seahawks, among others," said Johnson.  "When we have updates on this process, we will provide them to our fans and the media."

The owner apologized for the Jets' recent poor play — which resembled 16 episodes of The Three Stooges slapstick rather than an NFL season .

"Like all Jets fans, I am disappointed with this year's results," he said.  "However, I am confident that this change will best position our team for greater success going forward."

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Braylon Edwards shocked that Jets 'idiots' signed him

Braylon Edwards practiced with the New York Jets for the first time Thursday and was more stunned than anyone that he was back with Gang Green.

After passing his physical, Edwards finally joined the team yesterday, after being claimed on waivers from Seattle, and only a week removed from calling the Jets decision makers "idiots" on Twitter.

Even the wide receiver's name calling couldn't stop the Jets front office from adding the speedy Edwards to the offense-starved roster.

"I really thought that there was no way that the Jets were interested ..." Edwards said. "After the tweet, it was like, 'Yeah, I burned that bridge.'"

Even so, there was Edwards standing by his locker talking about playing again on Monday and being sort of contrite for his remark.

"I didn't have to apologize, but chose to," said Edwards about his dig at either head coach Rex Ryan or general manager Mike Tannenbaum.  "It was a statement that was made in the heat of the moment ... we're past that."

While the consensus is that Edwards' Twitter jab was clearly directed at Tannenbaum, Ryan was back doing his old stand-up routine and joked about his new receiver's tweets while deflecting them at the same time.

"I'm happy to see him despite his obvious comment," said a smiling Ryan.  "I look at it this way, tantamount, Mike and I are just saying he's [Edwards] talking about you ... no, he's talking about you.  So we're both okay with it."

It's strange how playoff contention can make Ryan's he means you routine get a chuckle.  It wasn't exactly Abbott & Costello's baseball classic, but it's been a while since Ryan felt like he was standing at the mike of The Comedy Store.

"There's a lot of comments that get fired at me," Ryan said.  "I'm OK with them. I've always been a big fan of Braylon because I like the way he plays."

Edwards talked with Tannenbaum when they ran in to each other in the cafeteria. Talk about how the Jets handled Mark Sanchez seemed to be an after thought.

"He was just as  happy to see me or so it seemed," said Edwards.  "The awkwardness wasn't there."

Rex Ryan: I was clueless to 'rift' in locker room

Rex Ryan says it was difficult to lose 106 pounds over the off-season but it might have been harder for the New York Jets coach to admit he also lost control of his team last year.

Besides the changed body image, Ryan now has rewired his way of thinking and has a whole new coaching philosophy to go along with it.

"I'm sitting there, talking in front of the team, selling, 'Team, team, team,' like I always are, and I did not know we had a rift in our team, " said Ryan.  "How was I not aware of it?"

The third-year head coach admitted— after the Jets season ending loss to the Miami Dolphins— he "lost the pulse" of the team.

"I was mad.  I was upset.  I was mad at myself  because you're either coaching it, or allowing it to happen, and I'm not going to do either," he said.

Ryan says he now has more open communication with bis players.  He said that communicating begins with an unnamed someone whom he calls "my little sensei"— the Japanese word for teacher.

The coach won't reveal the name of his Mr. Miyagi— at least not yet.

"After we have the season that we're going to have, I'll mention his name," said Ryan.

While it isn't the first preseason boast by Ryan, at least he toned down his act by not claiming a Super Bowl victory or dissing a cross-town team or a rival coach.

In a locker room that could blow at any time— Tebow/Sanchez, Revis holdout threats— the once boisterous Ryan sounds like he intends to become an island of tranquility.

"He's revived," said owner Woody Johnson.  "It's a different Rex in a way, because I think Rex is evolving into the job."

Before Ryan left for the Pro-Bowl in Hawaii last winter, GM Mike Tannenbaum handed Ryan a yellow business pad and gave his coach a Mr. Miyagi wax on-wax off exercise.

"Put all the problems on the left-hand side," he said.  "And all the solutions on the right."

After the the island trip, Ryan had filled pages of the yellow pad and met with Tannenbaum.

"Let's go," Ryan told the GM.  "We've got to get better, and it starts with me."

Rex Ryan-san anyone?