Terry Bradway sure had his share of things to be thankful for yesterday when it was learned the Jets GM received a two-year contract extension. Assistant GM Mike Tannenbaum also was extended, keeping the team’s trio of decision makers, including Herman Edwards, intact through 2007.
In his four-year tenure with the Jets and alongside Edwards, Bradway, 49, has endured plenty of ups and downs.
“We’ve had some good times and then we struggled at other times,” Bradway said yesterday, noting two playoff appearances as high points and last year’s 6-10 finish as a low point.
But in the last year, Bradway has overseen the re-stocking of Jet talent with younger and faster personnel, a refreshing step for the organization. In the past, the Jets were a veteran team with few pups cracking the roster, but now, they are one of the younger teams in the league, showcasing a host of talent obtained through the draft. They have plenty of cap room to play with, too, which is a welcome change at Weeb Ewbank Hall.
“What Terry’s done in the last four years we’ve been together, we know what we want to do here,” said Edwards, whose pact was extended after last season. “Obviously, there’s a plan, and sometimes it doesn’t come to fruition right away because you know there’s steps you have to take. Obviously our first year here we drafted some players and they didn’t play a whole lot because it was a veteran football team for the most part.
“But you saw those guys develop, and now all of a sudden, they’re starting to come out, they’re starters for us, they’re playing a lot, they’re solid players,” he said. “Sometimes it takes some players longer than others to prove their worth. I think for the most part if you look at his track record and the players that we drafted here in the last four drafts, a lot of them are starters for us, a lot of them are good players for us, and that’s the whole key.”
Among those players is Santana Moss, whom Bradway traded up to select in the 2001 draft, his first with the Jets. In that same class, Bradway selected RB LaMont Jordan and starting RT Kareem McKenzie.
Other moves made by the GM include the trades for Justin McCareins for a second rounder, and the deft pick-up of Pete Kendall during training camp this summer after the guard was released from Arizona’s roster.
Bradway has had some success in obtaining players, but he was criticized in the past when Laveranues Coles, Randy Thomas, Chad Morton and John Hall bolted for Washington as free agents. With John Abraham, Shaun Ellis, Jordan and Jason Ferguson’s contracts up at the end of this season, there is a fear the Jets will lose another crop of talented players because of economics.
“I think last year,” Bradway said, “was a wake-up call for everybody in the organization.”
But a new era has started for Gang Green, suddenly younger and faster, coming off a solid 2004 draft that included defensive starters Jonathan Vilma and fifth-rounder Erik Coleman.
“We built a foundation,” Bradway said. “We’ve got some decisions to make in [the coming] off-season that will be some tough ones. We won’t be able to keep everyone, we understand that. Some fans may be disappointed, we’ll be disappointed with some of the guys we may not be able to keep.”