The Jets landed former Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes on the cheap last night, acquiring the troubled wideout from the Steelers for the fire-sale price of a fifth-round pick in this month’s NFL Draft.
Holmes, who turned 26 in March, is one of the league’s most explosive receivers but also one of its most troubled and might not be available to the Jets to start the upcoming season.
That’s because Holmes, who was arrested twice and cited for marijuana possession from 2006-2008, is under investigation for assault in Orlando last month and reportedly is facing suspension for the first four games of 2010 for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
Already beset by the ongoing Ben Roethlisberger circus, the Steelers decided Holmes and his healthy 16.3-yard per catch career average weren’t worth all the off-field headaches.
Pittsburgh’s shocking decision is as much of a gamble as the willingness of the Jets and Rex Ryan to acquire Holmes, considering the 5-10, 185-pound pro is coming off his best season as a pro with 79 catches for 1,248 yards and five touchdowns in 2009.
Holmes’ stunning acquisition just 10 days before the draft would appear to all but put a nail in their rumored interest in another mercurial wideout, Broncos restricted free agent Brandon Marshall.
If he can stay out of trouble and on the field, Holmes will give the Jets and quarterback Mark Sanchez a potent downfield force to pair with Braylon Edwards that they sorely lacked last season.
Holmes also gives the Jets bookend problem children at wide receiver, considering Edwards was acquired from the Browns last season after being charged with misdemeanor assault in Cleveland.
Holmes allows the Jets to stretch the field in ways that they couldn’t come close to doing in 2009, when they reached the AFC title game despite averaging just 12.4 yards per catch as a team.
Holmes is best known for winning MVP honors in the Steelers’27-23 win over the Cardinals two years ago in Super Bowl XLIII with a toe-dragging 6-yard touchdown reception from Roethlisberger with 35 seconds left.
That moment in the sun for the 2006 first-round pick from Ohio State came on the heels of Holmes leading the league in 2007 with an 18.1-yard average per catch.
Ironically, Holmes has never been a Pro Bowl pick despite averaging 59 catches, 959 yards and five touchdowns over the course of his four-year career.
But Holmes, who has suspended for one game by the Steelers in 2008 after being cited for marijuana possession, comes to the Jets with – ahem – a considerable cloud over his head.
Orlando police are still investigating Holmes for allegedly throwing a drink and the glass that contained it at a woman in a club there on March 7 of this year.
Anshonae Mills accused Holmes of battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress, although no charges have yet been filed because an associate of Holmes is claiming that he – not Holmes – threw the glass after Mills grabbed Holmes’ arm.
Holmes also is reportedly facing a league suspension to start the 2010 season, although the violation that prompted it has not been specified. It could either be for testing positive for a prohibited substance or for missing his NFL-mandated drug test.
Holmes’ brushes with the law include a 2006 arrest for disorderly conduct and a domestic violence and assault arrest later that year. Police in Pittsburgh then cited Holmes for marijuana possession in 2008.
Holmes also has acknowledged selling drugs on the street corner of his hometown of Belle Glade, Fla., as a teenager.
bhubbuch@nypost.com
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