Mike Tannenbaum
CLANG GREEN: Making the interview rounds yesterday at the Super Bowl, former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum (inset) said of the ruinous trade for Tim Tebow (above): “Ultimately that was my decision.” (Anthony J. Causi)
NEW ORLEANS — The rehabilitation of Mike Tannenbaum’s image began here yesterday with a full media blitz.
The former Jets general manager spoke to reporters for the first time since the team fired him on Dec. 31, doing several radio, print and Internet interviews, trying to repair his reputation. Tannenbaum hopes to find a job in the NFL again, but it will be challenging considering the state he left the Jets in.
Tannenbaum obviously disagrees with the picture that has been painted of the Jets’ roster and salary-cap situation. The team hired John Idzik to replace him, and many around the league believe he faces a monumental task in cleaning up Tannenbaum’s mess.
“The future for the Jets is bright,” Tannenbaum said. “There are a lot of good young players. … From a salary-cap standpoint, we had a plan in place. John’s a really smart guy, dealt with the cap, I’m sure he’s going to take my plan and tweak it and put his own views on it, but that plan will be played out over the next few weeks.”
Tannenbaum went over some of his worst decisions.
* On trading for quarterback Tim Tebow: “So just going on the Tim decision, we felt like after the 2011 season we lost something with Brad Smith not being there, so we felt like bringing Tim in, he was going to be a guy who could replace Brad’s production. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way we thought it was going to, and ultimately that was my call. But we did have discussions about it, and ultimately that was my decision to make the trade.
“It’s one of those decisions where it didn’t work out the way we thought.”
* On giving quarterback Mark Sanchez a contract extension that guaranteed him $8.25 million next season: “Our thinking on that was Mark is only one of five quarterbacks in the history of pro football to win 30 or more games in his first three years. In the 2011 season, he had scored 32 TDs, 26 throwing and six rushing. Like any contract we do, we thought it would be a win-win. Get cost certainty from a standpoint of we know what he’s going to cost and he gets the benefit of some security. Based on how we played this year, that’s a decision as of now that doesn’t look very good.”
Tannenbaum blamed the team’s weak offense in 2012 on the injuries the Jets suffered.
“If we were healthy, I felt good about it,” Tannenbaum said. “Again, I only have one game to stand on to say that, but we did score 48 points [in opener against the Bills]. I still think [second-round pick and wideout] Stephen Hill is going to be a really good player. … I think there were a lot of good pieces there, and then the injuries came and we didn’t have enough guys to replace them.”
Cornerback Darrelle Revis’ future with the team has become a hot topic in the last week. Tannenbaum would not disclose what his long-term plan was for Revis, saying that would be unfair to Idzik. He did say the team had no plans of dealing Revis last year, before the team’s top defensive player went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
“I did not think we were going to trade Darrelle last year,” he said.
Now, it’s not Tannenbaum’s problem. Instead, he’s trying to convince the league he still belongs in a front office.
“I have a seven-year record of what we accomplished, three playoff appearances,” Tannenbaum said. “I’m encouraged by so many people reaching out to me … in terms of my future. I’m going to keep my options open.”
He would not say if he has interviewed with any teams.
“I’ve talked to people on teams and outside of teams,” Tannenbaum said. “As of now, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”