Transcript of general manager Mike Tannenbaum's and head coach Rex Ryan's conference call with reporters Friday night:
TANNENBAUM: Hello everybody. Thanks for being patient today. I know it's a busy time of the year for everybody and we appreciate your patience. We did sign Bart Scott today. In addition, we are close to signing Tony Richardson and Brandon Moore, nothing official yet, and Corey Ivy was in for a visit today. We do expect Jim Leonhard here tomorrow.
I also want to take the opportunity to thank our whole staff. We did a lot of work in terms of preparing. We watched a lot of tape, met a lot and we have been busy today. It was a good organizational effort and we're excited to add Bart to our team. If there are other opportunities that present themselves in free agency, Rex, Woody [Johnson] and I will measure it carefully and see what we can do to help the team.
RYAN: We added "the Madbacker" today and basically a little bit about Bart Scott is, what you saw him do in Baltimore and accomplish at Baltimore, I think it's the tip of the iceberg for this young man. I think he is going to be more effective, even more so now with the Jet defense, because we are going to have some flexibility with him and David [Harris] that we quite honestly never really had with Ray [Lewis].
That is not taking anything away from Ray, but Ray was always the Mike 'backer. I think now we can switch Bart and David in and out and I think it's going to give some identification problems to offenses. I think that is going to be a good thing, but you are going to see that this guy is a very passionate player and a guy that plays with great temperament.
He is called the Madbacker because he basically hates the guys in the other-colored jerseys. After the game, he's really a personable young man, he has a great personality, he does so many good things off the field. But when he is on the field and he's playing against somebody, he plays the game the way it's supposed to be played and that is a very violent and physical game.
On if signing Scott eliminates Ray Lewis from joining the Jets…
TANNENBAUM: Obviously, I don't know Ray nearly as well or at all for that matter. I think he is a great player. We will always evaluate opportunities as they present themselves. We look at this as a continuum over a long period of time and we are going to try to add players into August and September. I never thought we would add Brett Favre last August. Right now, we are going to take each day one at a time [and] look at opportunities. We will not rule in or out any player. We will take it one day at a time.
On if the Jets would have a spot for Lewis…
RYAN: If that opportunity presented itself and certainly if we thought it would be in our best interest, then we would definitely look at it. I would think Ray Lewis is going to have plenty of opportunities. He is one of the premier players in this league and I am sure Ray is not going to have any problems finding a job out there.
On rumors of Scott's agent taking the Jets' offer back to the Ravens…
TANNENBAUM: Without getting into specifics, we felt reasonably confident throughout the day that things were going to go the way that they were going to go, or as Rex said, 'There was no doubt' [laughing]. We felt good about things once we got Bart up here, but until the contract is signed, you never know. We worked the process. I talked to [Scott's agent] Harold [Lewis] a number of times today. I don't want to speak for Harold, certainly you guys can make that call yourself, but I think Harold was pretty busy too. I don't think the delay was necessarily about Bart Scott. I think Harold's plate was pretty full today.
On how the deal might evolved over the course of the day …
TANNENBAUM: We are comfortable with where the deal is. We never talk about the specifics of contracts. All I can say is we have our goals when we go in to a deal. It has to make sense for both sides. We are obviously comfortable with the deal and we're really happy that Bart's a Jet.
On possible interest in trading with the Eagles for Lito Sheppard…
TANNENBAUM: That's not something I can address right now.
On David Clowney …
TANNENBAUM: David is a personal favorite of mine. He's really improved and he's earned the opportunity for more playing time. David will be here. He's worked hard. He's spent a lot of time on the JUGS machine. If he didn't get hurt in the [Washington preseason game, Aug. 16] he probably would have played more. Last year Eric [Mangini] and I made the judgment call to keep him [on the 53-man roster] because he earned that right, when it could have been a season-ending injury. We carried him for a long time.
We're excited to see what David can do. One of the things that Rex and I believe in philosophically is that all these guys will get a chance, and the best players will play regardless of how they got into the league.
On the Jets defense looking like "Baltimore North" this season …
RYAN: I think it will in production. We are going to have an outstanding defense right out of the gate. I think the expectations should be high for this unit, just like they should be high for this football team. We expect to have an outstanding defense this year.
On S Jim Leonhard…
RYAN: Number one, he looks like the guy who delivers papers next door [laughing]. He's a smart player. He had the [Ravens helmet radio last season]. He's got a lot of poise. Very sure of himself.
For some reason, I guess he gets saddled with [a label] because he is short, but this guy is an outstanding athlete. He won two slam dunk contests at the University of Wisconsin. He is an outstanding punt returner. I always say he can catch a punt in a hurricane. He's got great hands. He's a smart, tough, passionate guy. You try to build your team with those kinds of players.
On any tense moments during the process of signing LB Bart Scott…
TANNENBAUM: Without getting into too much specifics, I did hear about those reports, but today was pretty much business as usual for a first day of free agency. We were in constant contact with Bart's representative, Harold Lewis, who did a great job. I never sensed that tenseness myself. Bart was either with Rex for most of the day or getting his physical. Today was pretty much a regular day. We had a lot going on like I said with Brandon [Moore], Tony Richardson and getting Bart done. It was pretty much a normal first busy day.
RYAN: As far as any tense moments, there really was not any with Bart at least from my perspective. Obviously, I was not sitting there and negotiating. We were relaxed enough that Bart, myself and [defensive coordinator] Mike Pettine went to the mall and looked around. No one recognized anyone so it was kind of a relaxing time. We came back and were going to watch a movie together down here and that was when the deal was done.
On having any doubt that Scott would sign with the Jets…
RYAN: No. None at all. No doubt whatsoever.
On if G Brandon Moore returning to the Jets is a result of losing out on Pittsburgh G Chris Kemoeatu…
TANNENBAUM: There is nothing official with Brandon, but we are pretty close. When things start with free agency, obviously players have earned the right to explore options. We let Brandon go and he had the right to look and, obviously, Rex and I are going to have to do the same for the Jets. There is nothing official yet, but it looks like we are heading [in the right direction], where it will work out great for Brandon and work out great for us. We will have a little more to say on that here in a couple of days.
On releasing Moore with the hope of bringing him back…
TANNENBAUM: I have been through this enough now that sometimes guys get to the market and there is no hope, and other times you are cautiously optimistic. We are not there yet, but hopefully there is a resolution to be found here that will make everyone happy. Those are the best deals when everyone can feel good about something. Sometimes when they leave, you know they are not coming back, but other times you are cautiously optimistic.
On the reaction to signing Scott…
TANNENBAUM: I think it is a referendum about our organization and the people in it. I think we have a great story to tell and I am glad Bart was able to come in today. I just think we have a lot of great people here. My job as a general manager, as I said before, is like a point guard – to orchestrate things. Most of the time, if we do our homework things can fall into place. Rex and his staff did a great job of showing where Bart can hopefully have sustainable success over a number of years.
On if Leonhard is visiting Saturday…
RYAN: Yes, he is.
On the shopping spree at the mall…
RYAN: It was Mike Pettine. We were just trying to kill some time because you know today's contracts. It's not just a one line deal, it's 60 pages of stuff like you are buying a house, which I am very familiar with right now. We were watching tape and all that and I was like "Guys, let's go to the mall." Plus I was trying to show the mall off, the Short Hills Mall, and I am hoping to get a discount now that I mention it.
We walked around it. Shoot, you can get a workout just walking that mall, but it was good. It was a lot of fun just walking around it. Bart is really into fashion so he is pointing out all these watches and I was trying to get a belt for my son and he was like "No, wait for this other brand to come out, they are coming out in two weeks" and all that kind of stuff. He was there to give some fashion tips.
On why the Jets chose Scott over Lewis…
RYAN: Well, there were a few reasons. When you look at them from the playing standpoint, they are both outstanding players. Ray is a hall of fame player and is still one of the premier backers in the league. I think with Bart, you get a guy who's young. He's got as good of coverage skills as any inside linebacker in the game. He's a violent player that plays with great passion as, of course, does Ray. We think that he fits us. He gives us a lot of flexibility; he can play with the Will linebacker for us and the Mike linebacker.
I think Ray is, obviously, the premier middle linebacker in the game, the Mike 'backer, but I think the flexibility we have with David Harris and Bart Scott is just going to be difficult to identify who the Mike is. It doesn't sound like that big of deal, but trust me, it is. The offense is setting protections against the Mike linebacker. If they can't find him, that's going to give some problems and I think those two guys right there are going to be quite a pair. When you look at our linebacking corps overall, we probably have as good of a linebacking corps as there is in this league, probably right up there with Baltimore and really anybody else.
On what movie he was going to watch…
RYAN: That's a great question. [laughing]. You know what, I think we were going to settle on an Ultimate Fighting DVD type thing. Those are good action-packed things, but I think that is what we decided on. We had a few movie type things, but that was going to be it.
On what he expects from the secondary and how he plans to mold it…
RYAN: Well, I think it is about the unit, not just about the secondary. It's about how they play collectively, all 11 guys. I think when you look statistically, [Baltimore] led the league in interceptions two out of the last three years. I am excited about this group. I think this group here has some special talent.
When you talk about a [Darrelle] Revis, you talk about a Kerry Rhodes and really, a young corner in [Dwight] Lowery, and I think it has a chance to be a special group. Again, it is all about the unit. You can't get an interception without a pass rush, you can't get a sack without great coverage, but I think the whole unit with complement each other with the strengths of every guy that we have and I think we are going to be pretty special back there.
