BOOMER: JETS GOTTA GO JAY WALKIN'
By MARK CANNIZZARO
The Jay Cutler-to-the-Jets debate continues to rage.
Weighing in yesterday was former Jet quarterback Boomer Esiason, whose opinion was direct and strong: Go get the disgruntled Bronco QB at almost any cost.
"I'm telling you, if I could get this kid, I would go guns a-blazing and try to get him," Esiason said.
"I don't know what it would take, but he's a kid that can play here for the next 10 years. This is not Brett Favre, a one-year Band-Aid. This is a totally different story.
"This is a kid who, if he does get traded - which I think is going to happen - you're getting him . . . smack dab in midst of his prime.
"He's not going to get any better than he will be in the next five or six years."
Esiason, an NFL studio analyst for CBS Sports and a morning host on WFAN, said he's certain the Jets are eyeing Cutler.
"I know [Jet GM] Mike Tannenbaum, by virtue of the fact that he brought Brett Favre here, I guarantee you he is absolutely all over this, 100 percent," Esiason said.
Asked, if he's the GM, what he would give the Broncos in a trade for Cutler, Esiason said, "I don't know what it would take. I'm not giving up two No. 1 draft choices for him. A No. 1 and [CB] Darrelle Revis? That ain't happening, so forget that.
"You have to remember you're also doing Denver a favor because he's a disgruntled player. There's also talk of Buffalo possibly trading Trent Edwards for Cutler. If I'm a Jet fan, I want Jay Cutler. Do I want Kellen Clemens or Jay Cutler? I'll take Jay Cutler over Kellen Clemens, believe me."
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The Jets yesterday matched the one-year, $1.5 million offer sheet to backup S Abram Elam, who signed the offer seven days ago with the Browns.
The Jets had signed Elam, a restricted free agent, to a one-year, $1.01 million tender before the Browns extended the offer sheet.
The Jets, who've watched Eric Mangini's Browns sign away four of their free agents in recent weeks - DT C.J. Mosley, CB Hank Poteat and LBs David Bowens and Eric Barton - had until yesterday to match the offer.
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Jet RB Thomas Jones appears to be making a statement by skipping the team's voluntary offseason workout program for the second consecutive day. Jones, who won the AFC rushing title last season and went to the Pro Bowl, wants a new contract, according to sources close to him. He has two remaining years on his four-year, $20M pact.
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