The Jets have traded 27-year old safety Kerry Rhodes to the Cardinals for a 4th round pick in 2010 and a 7th round pick in 2011.  Rhodes played in all 16 games for the Jets last season in which he made 63 tackles, defensed 13 passes, had 2 tackles for a loss and 3 interceptions.  Rhodes played in 80 games in his time with the Jets and he made 417 tackles, he had 9 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, he defensed 47 passes and he had 15 interceptions.  This was a good trade for the Jets because he was often in Rex Ryan’s Dog House.

The Jets have acquired 25-year old cornerback Antonio Cromartie from the Chargers for a conditional third round pick in 2011.  That pick could escalate into a 2nd rounder depending on how much P.T. Cromartie gets in 2010 and how well the Jets do during the season.  Still that was a small price to pay for a good young corner to team with Darrelle Revis.  Cromartie played in all 16 games for the Chargers last season and he had 33 tackles, defensed 10 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  He has now played in 64 games in his NFL career and he has made 165 tackles, defensed 41 passes and he has 15 interceptions (two of which he returned for TDs).  Cromartie also returned 19 kickoffs for 442 yards (23.3 avg) for the Chargers.  I love this move for the Jets.

The Jets have acquired 26-year old WR Braylon Edwards from the Cleveland Browns for WR Chansi Stuckey, LB Jason Trusnick and 2 undisclosed draft picks.  Edwards was off to a slow start with the Browns playing in 4 games in which he caught 10 passes for 139 yards (13.9 avg).  But he has a huge upside and the Jets were smart to trade for him shortly after he punched one of LeBron James’ friends at a night club in Cleveland likely lowering the asking price of the Browns.  Edwards has now played in 62 games in his five year NFL career and he has caught 238 passes for 3,697 yards (15.5 avg) with 28 TD grabs.  This was steal for the Jets as Edwards is in his free agent walk year so he should be motivated to excel.

26-year old WR Chansi Stuckey was starting opposite of Jerricho Cotchery with the Jets.  He played in 4 games this season for the Jets and he caught 11 passes for 120 yards (10.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Stuckey played in 19 games in his two years with the Jets and he caught 43 passes for 479 yards (11.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  25-year old linebacker Jason Trusnick was a special teams ace for the Jets this season playing in all 4 games in which he made 6 tackles and forced 1 fumble.  He played three years with the Jets covering 17 games in which he made 24 tackles and forced 1 fumble.  This was not much to give up for Edwards unless the picks were high ones.

The Jets have made their big move trading DE Kenyon Coleman, safety Abram Elam, QB Brett Ratliff, the #17 pick in the first round of the draft and the #52 overall pick (2nd round) for the right to pick 5th in the first round selecting QB Mark Sanchez.  Sanchez will compete with Kellen Clemens for the starting job from Day #1 and he could be the opening day starter for the Jets.  Sanchez can do it all as he has a good arm and solid mobility.  Sanchez is 6′2″, 225 pounds and he runs a 4.75 40.  He played in 27 games (16 starts) in three seasons at USC and he completed 313 of 487 passes (64.3%) for 3,965 yards with 41 TD passes and 16 interceptions.  The Jets think they have a franchise QB on their hands and if that’s true it was definately worth the cost.

30-year old Kenyon Coleman was penciled in to start for the Jets this season.  He played in all 16 games for the Jets last season making 53 tackles, defensing 1 pass and he had 1/2 a sack.  In two seasons with the Jets, Coleman played in 32 games in which he made 136 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he had 2 sacks.  The Jets will likely look to draft a DE to replace Coleman.  27-year old safety Abram Elam played in all 16 games for the Jets last season and he made 69 tackles, defensed 3 passes, forced 3 fumbles and he intercepted a pass that he returned 92 yards for a TD.  In two seasons with the Jets, Elam played in 29 games in which he made 122 tackles, defensed 5 passes, had 2 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and he had 1 interception.  Elam was projected to start at strong safety for the Jets in 2009 so they will also have to address that in this draft.  23-year old QB Brett Ratliff has not played a game in the regular season but he was impressive in the 2008 pre-season for the Jets.  Ratliff completed 32 of 47 passes (68.1%) for 499 yards with 4 TD passes and 1 interception (122.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for 9 yards (3.0 ypc).  The Jets gave up a lot to get Sanchez but it was a gamble well worth taking.

The Jets continued to beef up the defense by acquiring 27-year old cornerback Lito Sheppard from the Eagles for a 5th round pick in 2009 and a conditional pick in 2010 (2nd, 3rd or 4th rounder based on Sheppard’s play in 2009).  Sheppard played in all 16 games for the Eagles last season and he made 21 tackles, defensed 4 passes, forced 1 fumble and he had 1 interception.  Sheppard has now played in 93 games in his NFL career in which he has made 253 tackles, defensed 69 passes, has 2 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and he has 18 interceptions (3 returned for TDs).  Teaming Sheppard with Revis on the other side of the field should make the Jets hard to pass on in 2009.