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A fifth-round pick for a 26-year-old, Pro Bowl-caliber wideout? It sounds crazy, which might account for some of the speculation that there is more to the deal for Santonio Holmes between the Jets and Steelers. Like Leon Washington.
This report on NBCSports deals with the speculation that New York will also send restricted free agent Washington to the Steelers. Washington wants a new deal, which the Jets aren't inclined to give him, and the Steelers have a need for a complementary back to Rashard Mendenhall, with only Mewelde Moore as a third-down option.
Washington is coming off an ugly broken leg, plus he hasn't yet signed his restricted free agent tender -- a must in order to be dealt. So maybe there's nothing to the rumor. But it does make some sense for both sides, and would help explain how the Jets were able to acquire Holmes for what seems like a pittance otherwise.
Granted, Holmes is reportedly facing a four-game suspension to start the season for either failing or missing a drug test, plus there's an alleged nightclub incident. He's also in the last year of his contract. Even with all that, though, a 5th-round pick is a pretty cheap price.
Regardless of whether the Washington speculation is valid, the Holmes deal might also say a lot about Braylon Edwards' future with the team. New York brought him in to be its No. 1 wideout last season, and Edwards responded with some big grabs -- and some excruciating drops. He's tendered at a first- and third-round level, so he'll be with the Jets this year, but this trade may suggest an unwillingness on New York's part to give him a long-term deal. It certainly doesn't seem likely that the team will give both wideouts big contracts within the next 12 months.
If nothing else, this also should take the Jets out of the Brandon Marshall rumors, and maybe help expedite the Broncos moving their own controversial wideout fairly quickly; to get whatever they can from whatever remaining teams are interested in him.
--Andy Richardson
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