Santonio Holmes is now a New York Jet. He was traded for some used sweat pants and a fifth round pick. Rex Ryan seems to be assembling an All Pro team for next season with Cromartie, L.T., possibly Jason Taylor and now Holmes supplementing the already stacked team that made it to the AFC Championship. This hurts Holmes’ value somewhat since Cotchery and Edwards will also need their targets and the Jets are a run first team with Shonn Greene and L.T., but he is absolutely the best receiver on the Jets right now.
The reports that Holmes will be suspended four games for breaking the league’s substance abuse policy must have been the last straw or should I say bud. But I’m still not sure why so many people are upset with his “wake and bake” tweet the other day? What’s wrong with nice and warm baked goods in the morning? I hear Santonio is always baking. Of course that 4 game suspension will drop him in the rankings, but unless he can’t stay away from his love of pastries he should still have a productive season.
This news does hurt Ben Roethlisberger’s fantasy value and tells him that the organization will only allow two sexual assault allegations, not three! It now looks like Big Ben’s two main receivers will be old man Ward and old named Mike Wallace, which boosts both of their prospects for next season. The Steelers will probably draft a receiver, but with the production that Wallace had in his limited role last season, it will be hard for a rookie to usurp him.
Mark Sanchez probably benefits from this the most. He is still raw and Holmes will probably miss the first four games, but I could see Sanchez really coming on in the second half of next season. Braylon Edwards’ hands are a running joke, but it is true that he cannot be relied upon when the game is coming down to the wire. And I think if you take a look-see back a couple years to Super Bowl 43, you can see what Holmes is capable of. Both Edwards and Holmes will be looking for long term contracts and Holmes should be the one to get one.
All and all this was a crap trade for the Steelers, but it does jibe with their philosophy. I do believe Roethlisberger is now on the shortest leash ever manufactured, with a choke chain for a collar. Unless he’s kinda into that, then they’ll probably rethink that approach. But with no charges being filed it’s hard to see Roethlisberger not playing for the Steelers next year, but of course this Holmes trade seemed to come out of nowhere too.
Edit: There is a slim, very slim chance that Leon Washington could be part of this deal, but we’ll have to see if anything comes from the rumors.
