PITTSBURGH — Shaun Ellis doesn’t know whether he’ll be back wearing a Jets uniform next season.
“I want to be here, but it’s up in the air,” the free-agent-to-be defensive lineman said after last night’s season-ending 24-19 loss to the Steelers in the AFC Championship. “If not, I had a great time.”
Ellis may have plenty of company on the list of those who have played their final game with Gang Green. General manager Mike Tannenbaum has to make critical decisions on a host of free agents — defensively, they include Ellis (the longest-tenured Jet), David Harris, Antonio Cromartie and Brodney Pool. The names on offense include Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Tony Richardson and Brad Smith.
PHOTOS: JETS LOSE TO STEELERS, 24-19
Richardson could retire — he didn’t address the question after the game — and Jason Taylor could, too.
“We finished this thing an hour ago or whatever it was,” Taylor said. “We’ll cross that bridge. We’ll see if Mike and Rex [Jets coach Ryan] even want me back.”
All the free agents are key players to some degree, particularly Edwards, Holmes, Cromartie, Harris, Smith and Ellis.
Edwards and Holmes will be interesting cases. Can the Jets afford to spend to bring both back? Are both worth big contracts? Whom do they prefer if they can only re-sign one?
“That ain’t got nothing to do with me right now, man,” Holmes said of his impending free agency. “I can’t talk nothing to you about free agency. I just lost the AFC Championship Game. What do you want me to talk about free agency for? That’s not going to help me right now. That’s not going to help anything right now.”
Harris didn’t get a contract extension after last season, and the linebacker, who led the team in tackles with 119 and has been a Jet for all four years of his NFL career, is now set to hit the market.
The Jets’ linebacking corps is an aging unit — Bart Scott and Bryan Thomas are both in their ninth seasons, and Calvin Pace is in his eighth — making Harris’ re-signing even more important.
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” he said.
As for Cromartie, the Jets don’t have a natural replacement, with Drew Coleman, Kyle Wilson and Dwight Lowery unlikely to assume a starting role. If the Jets don’t bring Cromartie back, they’d likely have to trade for a corner or find one in free agency. Said Harris, “Don’t know how the team’s going to look next year. Got to cherish every moment you’re with these guys.”
— Additional reporting by Brian Lewis