Jets' airspace gets very noisy

Decibel levels rising in NY after moves

Faneca (6-5, 307), widely considered the top lineman on the open market, is penciled in at left guard. Woody (6-3, 340) is projected to start at right tackle, a position he's played sparingly. Pace (6-4, 270) is a fit at outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense, while Jenkins (6-4, 335) will man the all-important nose tackle spot (which he's never played) and also provide flexibility to play more four-man line packages.

The Jets also added 36-year-old free agent fullback Tony Richardson (6-1, 238) late last week.

While some critics have railed at the Jets' approach, Tannenbaum is holding his ground. The Jets are not only a bigger team, he also believes they are a better team, one that also has the No. 6 overall selection in the draft.

"I just feel fortunate that things have worked out the way that they did," he said. "We still have a long way to go, but we feel like it's a good start to the 2008 league year."

Old guard goes on offense

The heat was turned up last week at UMass-Lowell, and much of it was directed toward NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw.

In a fiery symposium that included Pro Football Hall of Famers John Hannah and Andre Tippett, criticism was fired at Upshaw for not helping former players with medical needs. The anger and passion inside Room 222 at the O'Leary Library was palpable.

Hannah and Tippett were part of a six-member panel that also included Ted Johnson (Patriots), Peter Cronan (Seahawks/Redskins), Garin Veris (Patriots), and Bruce Laird (Colts).

"People ask why he doesn't do more for retired players, and probably the biggest reason is that there are no checks and balances, so he doesn't have to," Laird told the crowd.

Tired of inaction, Hannah is in the final stages of creating the Retired Football Players Association along with fellow Hall of Famer Joe Delamielleure.

"We're both offensive guards and we're trying to protect the player," Hannah said after the symposium. "We're not fighting the NFL, we're fighting the union. We're creating a union to fight our own union."

Veris believes it's important to generate momentum now, so that when a new collective bargaining agreement is negotiated, the needs of retired players are part of the discussion.

"This is a crucial time," Veris said. "You hear things like the Mackey Fund, and they say they're doing things for former players, but it's a smokescreen, a Band-Aid.

"The retired players who really need it need to be part of this next collective bargaining agreement. We can't let Gene Upshaw go out like he's done something great when so many players are getting abused."

The symposium was presented by professor Jeffrey Gerson of UMass-Lowell Politics and Sports. Former Globe sportswriter Ron Borges helped arrange the event, which also included an introduction from UMass-Lowell chancellor Marty Meehan.

Browns made a score, but give Packers extra points

Each year, analysts are quick to rate the winners and losers in free agency. Most often, the winners are the clubs that sign star players, while the losers are teams that lost them, or are deemed to have overpaid for non-stars.

But that analysis often overlooks the bigger picture.

Teams can't possibly keep all of their players. So a true winning approach is deciding which players to keep and which to let go, while at the same time creating enough talent flow from within to absorb the inevitable defections.

That's why the Packers, specifically for their work with Corey Williams and their defensive line, may be rated one of this year's winners.

The Packers selected Williams in the sixth round of the 2004 draft out of Arkansas State. Williams, who obviously had some untapped talent, was developed in the team's system under a four-year, $1.476 million contract. He came on strong with seven sacks in each of the last two seasons as part of the Packers' deep defensive line rotation.

Williams's rise had him positioned to be one of the top unrestricted free agents this year. The Packers faced the prospect of losing him and receiving no compensation, so to protect their asset they assigned him the franchise tag.

That maneuvering ultimately resulted in last week's trade with the Browns. Williams was shipped to Cleveland for a 2008 second-round draft choice, and in consummating the deal, the Browns gave Williams a reported six-year, $38 million contract.

In assessing the deal, many have lauded the Browns, although that seems short-sighted.

Yes, they landed a rising player who should help them push the pocket and be stouter against the run. But overlooked, it seems, was that they were acquiring an asset at its highest price. Further overlooked was that the Packers received four years of production from a cost-effective sixth-round pick, which they've now turned into a second-round pick.

So it's not a bad deal for the Packers, either.

It's those types of free agent moves - not just the big-money signings - that should draw more attention when it comes to assessing winners and losers.

Etc.

Quarterback was intercepted
When news of Brett Favre's retirement broke, it had New York scribes reminiscing about what might have been for the Jets. A long-told story is how the Jets were hot after Favre in the 1991 draft, having him ranked at the top of their board. Yet late general manager Dick Steinberg and assistant Ron Wolf did not have a first-round pick, so they attempted to move up with their high second-round selection. Steinberg had good information that the Falcons were set to snare Favre early in the second round, and he thought he had a deal with the Cardinals to move ahead of them but the Cardinals backed out at the last moment. The result was that the Jets lost out on Favre, who went to Atlanta and was later traded to Green Bay, where Wolf had become general manager. New York ended up with quarterback Browning Nagle.

What could be a precedent-setting grievance has been filed by Baltimore's Terrell Suggs, who was assigned the franchise tag this offseason. Suggs's gripe is that the Ravens tagged him as a linebacker ($8.065 million) instead of a defensive end ($8.87 million). Because the Ravens play a 3-4 defense, Suggs actually lines up at both positions. The Ravens feel they acted in good faith as Suggs has always played linebacker in their base defense, and has annually been listed as a linebacker on the NFL's Pro Bowl ballot. The sides had been negotiating a long-term extension, but the talks are on hold until the grievance is resolved.

Patriots center Dan Koppen might consider hitting the weight room early this offseason. In one week, he watched each AFC rival add bulk and power at nose tackle. The Bills traded for Marcus Stroud (6 feet 6 inches, 310 pounds), the Dolphins traded for Jason Ferguson (6-3, 312), and the Jets traded for Kris Jenkins (6-4, 335). No doubt, the understated Koppen will have his Pro Bowl credentials tested in 2008, as all three fall into the hard-to-move category.

If throwing money at a problem ultimately solves it, the Browns should have a better run defense. After finishing 29th in the league, surrendering 4.5 yards per carry, the Browns added two expensive parts to their defensive line in Corey Williams (six years, $38 million) and Shaun Rogers (six years, $42 million). With Robaire Smith (four years, $12 million) and Shaun Smith (four years, $8.65 million) returning, the Browns' top four linemen have salaries totaling an eye-popping $100 million. As Cleveland Plain-Dealer beat man Tony Grossi points out, that's about 1,300 pounds up front, and about a $77,000-per-pound investment.

The Raiders have taken some heat for overspending to retain defensive lineman Tommy Kelly, who has yet to appear in a Pro Bowl. But based on comments made by Patriots coach Bill Belichick a few years ago, the money may have been well spent. "Tommy Kelly is one of the best defensive linemen in the league. He's an outstanding player," Belichick said in September 2005. "He's a little bit like Howie Long in that Howie was a guy they would move along the defensive front and mismatch him against whoever they thought the other team's worst lineman was. There is a little bit of that with Tommy Kelly, too." Perhaps Belichick was a bit generous in his praise, as his words came in the days leading up to a game against the Raiders, but they are also a reminder Kelly isn't the marginal player that many have made him out to be.

Traditionally one of the league's most aggressive free agent teams, the Redskins have been amazingly quiet. Part of that is their own doing, as they are tight to the salary cap, but nonetheless it was stunning to hear personnel executive Vinny Cerrato tell reporters that the team was "waiting for the market to come down." The Redskins have always been market-setters, not market-waiters. Their main piece of business was re-signing backup quarterback Todd Collins. The Jaguars and Giants had shown some early interest in Collins, but the Redskins made sure they didn't lose him by having first-year coach Jim Zorn fly to Collins's home in Quincy. The sides agreed on a reported three-year, $9 million contract, with $3 million up front.

Arizona, this year's Super Bowl host, has put its hat into the ring to host the 2012 game. Owners are expected to vote in late May on the 2012 host, with Indianapolis and Houston expected to be in the mix as well . . . The Chiefs lost out on their two top targets in free agency - center Jeff Faine (Buccaneers) and kicker Josh Brown (Rams) - as they decided the prices were too high . . . Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo, Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris, and Panthers defensive end Mike Rucker are continuing an NFL-USO tradition initiated more than 40 years ago, as they've embarked on a weeklong visit with US troops at military bases throughout the Persian Gulf . . . Cowboys right tackle Marc Colombo has one year remaining on his contract and he'd like a new deal, but Dallas president Stephen Jones said the team has no plans to head back to the negotiating table.

Through Friday, approximately 100 free agents had signed official contracts with clubs. About two-thirds of them signed with new teams.

Mike Reiss can be reached at reiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.