Mike Tannenbaum thinks the Darrelle Revis trade was a win-win for the Jets and Bucs.
“I think it’s really a trade that makes a lot of sense for both sides,” the former Jets GM Tannenbaum told The Post “It reminded me a lot of ’06 when I traded John Abraham, and we turned that into Nick Mangold.”
He has no regrets over trading up in the 2009 draft for Mark Sanchez.
“I felt like that trade had a chance for us to be sustainable, and that we could reload on the fly,” Tannenbaum said.
The $8.25 million guaranteed Sanchez for this season after the Jets had kicked the tires on Peyton Manning? “I thought for cost certainty and for strategic planning purposes, I’d rather be proactive than reactive, especially at that position,” Tannenbaum said. “And it had nothing to do with Peyton Manning.” Can Sanchez rebound? “Without question,” Tannenbaum said.
Was Tim Tebow a distraction to Sanchez? “Mark’s a competitor,” Tannenbaum said, “and I didn’t think that would drive his performance.”
He is moving on to a new chapter of his life as president of the Coaching, Front Office and Broadcasting division, Basketball and Football, of Priority Sports & Entertainment, with an office in Manhattan. Basketball? Well, his dog is named Larry, after Larry Bird. And Rex Ryan gave him a Bird autographed photo as a gift.
Tannenbaum, who watched Round 1 from his Basking Ridge, N.J., home, recalled a telephone call he received from Bill Parcells days after he had been let go by Woody Johnson.
“If you’re looking for a pity party, this is the wrong conversation, but what I can tell you is what you do in life after you get knocked down is what counts,” Tannenbaum said, paraphrasing Parcells. “And if you need me, I’ll be there. Goodbye.”
Tannenbaum proudly showed off 22 game balls scattered around the house given him during his tenure. And a Jets Tannenbaum 16 jersey given to him by his old colleagues, the 16 representing the number of years Tannenbaum served with the Jets. Until December 31, 2012, when Johnson told him to turn in his playbook.
“I was surprised, but I wasn’t shocked,” Tannenbaum said. “I had a great run. Woody was unbelievable to me. We had a bad season. There were things I could have done better, we had bad injuries, a number of players could have played better. But as a leader, I totally can understand. If someone’s gonna be held accountable, it should be me. And when you have the privilege of being general manager, that comes with that responsibility. You take the criticism, you take the credit, and when the season doesn’t go the way any of us had hoped, I paid the price for it.”
He thinks his successor, John Idzik, made solid picks in the first round last night – – CB Dee Milliner and DT Sheldon Richardson.
“John Idzik’s a guy that I’ve known for a long long time,” Tannenbaum said. “I like John a lot.”
The 2009 draft stands out in his mind because the Jets had to sweat out the Rams and Seahawks so Sanchez would still be there for the blockbuster trade up from 17 to 5 with the Browns.
“(Rams GM Billy) Devaney got into a little bit of an argument with Rex,” Tannenbaum recalled. “He was saying, ‘Go ahead and try to win with Brett Ratliff and Kellen Clemens.’ And I remember Rex saying to him, ‘Don’t worry about that, we’ll be on the next plane to Hattiesburg.’ We were gonna go talk (Brett) Favre out of retirement.”