How the franchise grabbed its franchise QB

Mambo9 · Jan 13, 2010

MBGreen said: ↑

Excellent article.....

it would be awesome (as a fan) to be able to sit in the war room with these guys on draft day. I would never say a word....just sit back....and watch the show.
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Oh really...? I'd like to see you not say a word while Mangini is lobbying Tanny to make a move for Gholston!

Scikotic · Jan 13, 2010

WSW was having trouble posting this, so here it is...

LINK

FLORHAM PARK - Rex Ryan was on the phone in Mike Tannenbaum’s office, making the most important call of his NFL life. On a Friday night in April, a world away from a second-round playoff game in San Diego, Ryan spent 15 minutes trying to convince a nondescript safety to sign a form he had no good reason to sign.

The Jets wanted to acquire Mark Sanchez the following day, and they needed Abe Elam, of all people, to allow them to do it.

Elam had signed a one-year, $1.5-million offer sheet with Eric Mangini’s Browns, the Jets had matched it, and a quirky league rule prevented any matching team from trading a player to the signing team within a calendar year without that player’s consent.

But on the eve of the draft, Mangini made it clear to the friend who had just fired him four months earlier he wanted Elam in the deal that would give the Jets the fifth overall pick, and the quarterback out of their California dreams.

Before calling Elam, Tannenbaum thought to himself, “Why would he ever sign this piece of paper?”

He couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer, until Ryan grabbed the phone.

“And Rex starts giving this incredible talk to him,” Tannenbaum recalled Tuesday, “telling him he had a better chance to start in Cleveland, but that it probably won’t happen and we’d still want you to be a Jet.

“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, he’s so good. We’ve got the right head coach. Man, what a salesman.’”

Elam bought the used car, faxed back the signed sheet that night, and the Jets forwarded it to the league office at 11 p.m. Tannenbaum and Ryan left their Florham Park facility believing they were 85 percent home on the USC quarterback who had wowed them with his accuracy outside the pocket, and with tales of washing his teammates’ uniforms at his Mission Viejo home.

Neither coach nor GM had any idea how turbulent that final 15 percent of the transaction would be.

On draft day, Tannenbaum arrived at the office at 7:30 a.m., hit the gym, and then furiously worked the phones before the start of the 4 p.m. draft. He called Sanchez in California at 10:15 a.m Eastern.
“I just want you to tell your parents they did a hell of a job raising you,” Tannenbaum told him, “and I’ll consider myself a successful parent if my kids turn out to be as nice and polite as you.

“Mark, I’ve been through a lot of drafts, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I just want to wish you the best. You might be a Jet, but there’s a better chance you won’t be. Either way, you’ve earned everything you’ve gotten and I hope you have a great career.”

The GM figured he could get Sanchez if he jumped from the 17th pick to Cleveland’s No. 5, but collected as much information as he could about the teams holding picks 1 through 4 – Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City and Seattle.

The Lions were taking Matthew Stafford, and Kansas City had already acquired Matt Cassel. Tannenbaum had solid intelligence on Seattle that told him the Seahawks wouldn’t select Sanchez, either.
But the Rams worried him at No. 2. They demanded a first-round pick and David Harris for their slot, according to a league source, and the Jets found the price too steep.

Woody Johnson, team owner, was among the nine Jets decision makers gathered in their upstairs draft room, down the hall from Tannenbaum’s office. They sat in black chairs at a white conference table; a speaker phone rested in the middle with remote microphones nearby.

On one side of that table, Tannenbaum sat between his predecessor, Terry Bradway, and the VP of college scouting, Joey Clinkscales (“My go-to guys,” Tannenbaum called them), facing a wall carrying the names of all prospects and the message, “Talent and Character – You can’t have one without the other.”

On the other side, Ryan faced a wall carrying the line, “In God we trust. For everyone else we need data.”

The Lions took Stafford, and the Rams were on deck. The room fell silent. Tannenbaum turned to his lieutenants and delivered the following order:

“Everybody, right now, I want you to think good thoughts. Anything you’ve done from a philanthropic standpoint, think about that.”

Tannenbaum thought of the foundation he started at his alma mater, UMass, a scholarship program for interns pursuing a career in sports.

“And when they said, ‘the St. Louis Rams select,’” Tannenbaum recalled, “I was like, ‘Come on!’”

The Rams had been bluffing all along. They took Jason Smith, the tackle from Baylor.

“We’re still alive,” Tannenbaum shouted.

Sanchez was still on the board when the Browns went on the clock at No. 5. They had 10 minutes to make their pick, and Tannenbaum and Mangini – frenemies once joined at the hip -- played a little poker game.

“I felt like I wanted him to call me,” Tannenbaum said, “because I felt whoever was going to call first would have less leverage.”

Ninety seconds into the standoff, Mangini blinked. Tannenbaum’s phone rang, and his former coach was on the line.

Mangini wanted Elam, defensive end Kenyon Coleman, the Jets’ pick at No. 17, their second-round pick (No. 52), and another pick. Tannenbaum didn’t want to surrender a third draft choice.

Jacqueline Davidson, a team official responsible for assessing the value of trade packages, advised Tannenbaum against adding that third pick to the deal. The clock was ticking, and Woody Johnson was pacing around the conference table. Mangini turned over negotiations to Browns GM George Kokinis, and Tannenbaum covered the phone and asked Ryan if he could throw the backup quarterback, Brett Ratliff, into the pot.

Rex gave his blessing.

“OK,” Kokinis said. “I think we’ll do that.”

“And that’s when things really got nervewracking,” Tannenbaum recalled.

The Jets and Browns had to agree on compensation in the event Coleman or Ratliff failed his physicals (Elam had already passed a Browns physical when signing his offer sheet), and the league wouldn’t notarize the trade until it had received calls from both franchises confirming the terms.

Realizing he was running dangerously low on time, Tannenbaum called Joel Bussert, a league official. “Come on Joel,” he barked. “Are we on the clock? Are we on the clock?”

Tannenbaum was afraid that the 10-minute window would expire, and that Cincinnati – lurking at No. 6 -- would jump ahead of the Jets and trade Sanchez to the highest bidder.

With two and a half minutes left in the game, Bussert finally told Tannenbaum he was on the clock.

The GM called Sanchez just to make sure he hadn’t torn his rotator cuff or an ACL since they last spoke. So stunned and overcome with glee that the Jets had acquired him, Sanchez thought someone was impersonating Tannenbaum as a practical joke.

“Here, talk to your new head coach,” Tannenbaum told Sanchez as he passed the phone to Ryan.

Ninety seconds remained for Tannenbaum to call the two Jets officials at Radio City Music Hall – Vito Contento, equipment manager, and Tim Tubito, video director – and direct them to hand Sanchez’s name to an assigned runner. Matt Higgins, head of business operations, told the GM the team wanted Johnson to make the announcement on Twitter. Tannenbaum had barely heard of Twitter.

“Woody,” he said, “whatever you’ve got to do, tweet, toot, whatever, you’ve got to do it now.”

Johnson walked out of the room working his remote device with his thumbs, “and I was so nervous,” Tannenbaum said, “because we only had 60 seconds to go.”

A Same Old Jets moment to end all Same Old Jets moments was only a minute away.

“We’d already given up three players and two picks,” Tannenbaum said. “We’ve got to get our guy.”

Finally, with Johnson out of sight and 30 seconds left, Tannenbaum ordered one of his college scouts, Jay Mandolesi, to call Contento and Tubito with the official pick.

Sanchez became a Jet. And Tannenbaum, a boyhood fan of the Celtics, had himself a deal that would’ve made Red Auerbach proud.
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WhiteShoeWillis · Jan 13, 2010

^ thanks scik.

MobiusOne28 · Jan 13, 2010

NDmick said: ↑

Tanny's a genius.

Rex is a genius.

Pretty well written article.

A woman working in the FO found that clause in Elam's contract, Erin was her first name I believe. Thank her for letting the FO know that Elam had to agree to the deal.

I had "Thanks Able Elam" in my sig for all of May from a related article after the draft.

I wish I was in that draft room.
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I still have it....the man may have seriously changed the tides of this franchise by saying yes to that deal.

GA Jets · Jan 13, 2010

I can't believe that Ratliff has the same value of a 3rd round pick!

Baumeister · Jan 13, 2010

Amazing behind the scenes look at what goes on in the war room. Glad we kept Harris and our 1st rounder in this years draft. Also glad that the rams picked Jason Smith.

NDmick · Jan 13, 2010

MobiusOne28 said: ↑

I still have it....the man may have seriously changed the tides of this franchise by saying yes to that deal.
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the way sanchez is playing, never take it out of you sig.

rhodesfan16 · Jan 13, 2010

Royal Tee said: ↑

I remember hearing about this but didn't know it was because that quirky rule..

Good stuff...

BTW,
Anyone else notice the pic?

I hear Smithers in my head....

"Yes......You are my golden tix....
PSL's will all be MINE! hehehehehehe

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I was going to post that. In no way does it make Woody look like a bad guy :lol:

raidersuck · Jan 13, 2010

Wow... Just an incredible article

NEJets · Jan 13, 2010

Guys,, don't forget the 3rd round he kept,,, turning out to be our Rookie running back who scored 39 yard TD to tie the game in Cincy last weekend.....
Well, you know WHO!

alleycat9 · Jan 13, 2010

I thought to myself, ?Wow, he?s so good. We?ve got the right head coach. Man, what a salesman.??
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interesting how he describes rex. sounds much like a liar and that woody really enjoyed it.

and really now are we sitting here annointing sancheese the franchise qb at this point? funny how that happened now isnt it.

WhiteShoeWillis · Jan 13, 2010

alleycat9 said: ↑

interesting how he describes rex. sounds much like a liar and that woody really enjoyed it.

and really now are we sitting here annointing sancheese the franchise qb at this point? funny how that happened now isnt it.
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Yes, Rex is a big liar. I mean, not a single thing he's said so far has come true. Full of hot air this guy.

BadgerOnLSD · Jan 13, 2010

WhiteShoeWillie said: ↑

Yes, Rex is a big liar. I mean, not a single thing he's said so far has come true. Full of hot air this guy.
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Yeah, like when he said we'd have a top defense or that Revis was the best CB in the league, or that we could make the playoffs with a rookie QB. None of that shit was true.

Chrisp22 · Jan 13, 2010

I knew the Elam part of the trade where he had to agree but didn't think the Rams would take Sanchez with the glaring holes they had.

Reading the story was like watching an episode of 24.

Woodhead77 · Jan 13, 2010

That was intense

sdbound · Jan 13, 2010

So this thread isn't about trading the rights to a whining man-child for Nate Keating, Roman Oben, Philip Rivers, and Shawn Merriman?

EnigmatiC · Jan 13, 2010

woowww lost a lot of respect for Tannenbaum after finding out hes a lifelong celtics fan

Miamipuck · Jan 13, 2010

alleycat9 said: ↑

interesting how he describes rex. sounds much like a liar and that woody really enjoyed it.

and really now are we sitting here annointing sancheese the franchise qb at this point? funny how that happened now isnt it.
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You are not a sunshiner nor a darksider, you are just a gigantic black hole of suck. Congratulations.

Steve032 · Jan 13, 2010

Great read, thanks for posting WSW

Miamipuck · Jan 13, 2010

WhiteShoeWillie said: ↑

Yes, Rex is a big liar. I mean, not a single thing he's said so far has come true. Full of hot air this guy.
Click to expand...

BadgerOnLSD said: ↑

Yeah, like when he said we'd have a top defense or that Revis was the best CB in the league, or that we could make the playoffs with a rookie QB. None of that shit was true.
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This sorry for the separate post but I didn't want you guys subjected to that black hole of suck.

How the franchise grabbed its franchise QB

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