The New York Jets Have Screwed Us Once Again

While reading today's edition of Sporting News Today, I took a close look at the rookies who still haven't signed with their new teams.

My conclusion after taking a closer look?

I hate the New York Jets!

We can sit here all day and blame Andre Smith for not being at training camp, but the fact of the matter is...the Cincinnati Bengals are in a very bad position, and Andre Smith (or agent Alvin Keels) couldn't have dreamt it up any better. The ultimate goal for Smith and his agent is, obviously, to sign for the most money possible.

I certainly can't blame Smith for wanting to make a lot of money, but I think he would be signed by now if it wasn't for the Jets.

Let's take a look at the top 10 picks and those who have signed up to this point:

1. Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions: six years, $72 million ($41.7 million guaranteed)
2. Jason Smith, OT, Rams: five years, $62 million ($33 million guaranteed)
3. Tyson Jackson, DE, Chiefs: UNSIGNED
4. Aaron Curry, LB, Seahawks: UNSIGNED
5. Mark Sanchez, QB, NEW YORK (MFing) JETS: five years, $60 million ($28 million guaranteed)
6. Andre Smith, OT, Bengals: UNSIGNED
7. Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Raiders: five years, $38.25 million ($23.5 million guaranteed)
8. Eugene Monroe, OT, Jaguars: UNSIGNED
9. B.J. Raji, DT, Packers: UNSIGNED
10. Michael Crabtree, WR, 49ers: UNSIGNED

Now if you look closely, you'll notice a very large gap between what the Jets paid their new franchise QB and what the Raiders paid for their newest fourth string WR. $21.75 million is the number that the Bengals and Smith/Keels are trying to bridge the gap on.

That is a lot of money!

Remember, picks three and four have yet to be signed. Normally, one could assume that they would be working their way down from the $62 million that the Rams paid the No. 2 pick in Jason Smith...but not this year, considering the No. 5 pick (Sanchez) is making only $2 million less than Jason Smith.

My point is this: There needs to be a rookie wage scale in place to prevent this type of situation from happening in the future. No matter what number you put in front of the word "million," the rookies will sign it.

Remember, just several months ago they were college kids (I hesitate to use the word "student").

How can the Jets justify paying Sanchez that much money without playing a single down in the NFL? $2 million less than the No. 2 overall pick? This leaves other teams in quite a bind and, in my opinion, it isn't fair.

(On a side note...I hate the Jets. Not only are they screwing us in this situation, but they also took Darrelle Revis from us in the 2007 draft...Then, just after I cooled down from the Revis selection, those bastards took David Harris from us in the second!)