The Jets found a way to make Day 3 of the drawn-out draft a thrill ride.
Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum — aka “Trader Mike” — couldn’t help himself. Two days of the draft had passed and Tannenbaum decided he had sat still long enough.
So, as the Jets released starting left guard Alan Faneca yesterday in a salary dump, they traded away running back Leon Washington, one of the most popular players on the team, to the Seahawks, also giving Seattle their seventh-round pick.
In between those moves, the Jets traded up in the fourth round to draft USC running back Joe McKnight, who’ll take over Washington’s duties as a third-down back. Got all that?
As these moves unfolded, one veteran Jets player told The Post, “I’m beside myself right now,” adding with sarcasm, “I guess they got it all figured out.”
As soon as the Washington trade was consummated, Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, obviously rattled by the losses of Faneca and Washington, sent this message out on his Twitter account: “Whhhhyyyyyyy????” An hour later, that message had been mysteriously deleted from his list of comments and replaced by a more politically correct, “Lost some good teammates today …”
Faneca, who wasn’t available for comment, was said to be “upset” about his release, according to teammates.
Washington, who was on Long Island yesterday fishing with tight end Chris Baker, his former Jets teammate who was just signed by the Seahawks, told reporters in Seattle that he was “stoked” by the deal.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to get a change of scenery,” Washington said. “This is a brand new start for me.”
All offseason, the Jets’ mantra has been about not standing pat after getting to the AFC Championship game last year.
“You’re going to stay the same, get better or get worse, and we’re getting better. That’s why we made the moves we made,” coach Rex Ryan said. “In this business you’ve got to move on, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to win a Super Bowl, and we’re trying to win one this year.”
Tannenbaum said the multiple roles Washington played would be filled by various other players, with McKnight taking over as a third-down back and first-round pick Kyle Wilson, Brad Smith and Jerricho Cotchery returning punts and kicks.
At the end of the day, the Faneca and Washington moves were more about money than anything. Faneca was due to make $7.5 million this year with $5.25 million guaranteed. Washington has been in contract dispute with the team since last year, wanting a long-term deal that never has materialized.
“Looking at Leon’s contractual situation, it was going to happen sooner than later,” Tannenbaum said. “Long-term, it would have been very, very, very difficult for us to re-sign him at end of the year knowing the other challenges we’re going to have.”
The Jets will be faced with re-signing cornerstone players such as cornerback Darrelle Revis, center Nick Mangold, linebacker David Harris and Ferguson. The Jets used the 139th overall pick in the fifth round they got from Seattle to draft Kentucky fullback John Conner.
In a bit of revisionist history, Tannenbaum dropped a hint that there was a question as to whether Washington, coming off the compound leg fracture injury, might not be ready for the start of the season, saying, “It was going to be hard for Leon to be here by opening day.”
The Jets all along had been saying publicly that they expected Washington to be ready for the start of the season.
One of the most common phrases Tannenbaum has used when speaking about Washington, and he used it again yesterday, is that he “wouldn’t bet against Leon.”
Yesterday, he bet against Washington. Faneca, too.
“He gave us two incredible years,” Tannenbaum said of Faneca, who’ll be replaced by either second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse or 2009 sixth-round pick Matt Slauson. “It’s our job to make hard decisions, and we felt like it was time to move on.”
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com