It appears the interest between the Jets and wide receiver Laveranues Coles is mutual.
Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum yesterday sounded amenable to the possibility of re-signing Coles, who left the Jets last year to sign a big free-agent contract with the Bengals. Coles was released by the Bengals last Thursday and is free to sign with any team.
Coles said last week that his first call would be to the Jets.
Tannenbaum said he has texted Coles and spoken to Coles’ agent.
“Maybe at some point, but we’ll see,” Tannenbaum said of a possible Coles return. “I have all the respect in the world for Laveranues. He’s as tough as they come.”
PATRIOTS COULD MAKE RUN AT LEON
RHODES: CARDINALS SAFETIES BEST
The Jets, who have a crop of unproven young receivers, will be looking hard at wideouts in the draft, perhaps with their first-round pick. So if Coles is re-signed, it likely will be after the draft.
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Tannenbaum said the reason for trading safety Kerry Rhodes was three-fold: economics (Rhodes was due a $2 million roster bonus on Friday and was scheduled to make $13 million over the remainder of his contract), the draft picks the Cardinals offered (a fourth-rounder this year and a seventh-rounder in 2011) and the Jets’ depth at the position (returning starter Jim Leonhard and reserves Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo).
Rhodes clashed with the defensive coaching staff and generally was not respected by his peers in the locker room.
“We just didn’t mesh that well at the end of that journey,” Rhodes said yesterday during his introductory news conference with the Cardinals. “So right now it’s a chance for me to get a new start.”
Tannenbaum, who said the plan is to add two safeties through the draft or free agency, acknowledged the “bumps in the road” between Rhodes and the coaching staff, but had praise for Rhodes.
“We were successful on defense last year in a lot of categories and Kerry was a big part of it,” he said. “He did a lot of good things. He played a lot on a pretty good defense.”
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The Jets re-signed backup tight end Ben Hartsock, who was an unrestricted free agent, to a new two-year contract yesterday, quickly taking him off the market.
Jets fans might remember Hartsock for a couple of dubious penalties he committed last season, but Jets management has a different, more valued, view of him.
Hartsock was called for a holding penalty in overtime that took the Jets out of game-winning chip-shot field goal range at home against the Bills on Oct. 18. The Jets ended up losing that game, fueling speculation that Hartsock might be released on the spot.
But Hartsock was a valuable part of the Jets’ No. 1-ranked rushing attack as a punishing blocker.
Hartsock, who caught only one pass for two yards — it went for a touchdown — last season, is a sound complement to starting tight end Dustin Keller, whose strength is pass catching.
“Ben has been important to us from the standpoint of solidifying our running game,” Tannenbaum said. “He played in 46 percent of the snaps last year and we led the league in rushing, and Ben deserves some credit for that.”
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The Jets seem to be in a holding pattern with a couple of their other veteran unrestricted free agents, including fullback Tony Richardson and long snapper James Dearth.
Tannenbaum sounded almost as if he was saying goodbye to Richardson.
“We hold Tony Richardson in the highest regard for all that he does on and off the field,” he said. “We’ve talked to him more than once and we’ll see how that goes. We won’t rule anything out at this point.”
Dearth has been with the Jets since 2001, playing in 149 consecutive games.
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According to a source close to defensive end Marques Douglas, who was a productive player and a solid veteran locker room presence, the Jets appear to be “going in a different direction.” Douglas is an unrestricted free agent who is attracting interest from other teams.