Mike Tannenbaum says he traded Derrick Mason for performance reasons.
"Suffice it to say, things didn’t work out on the field with Derrick," the Jets GM told reporters at the team facility today. "We were committed to trying to make it work, getting him to play better on the field, at a level he was accustomed to and what were were expecting."
Judging Mason on his scant stats is deceiving. He was the fifth option on a lot of his passing plays after Santonio Holmes, Plaxico Burress, Dustin Keller, and LaDainian Tomlinson. There are other Jets off to bad starts. The team has not traded any of them or seeked to do so. It seems clear there is more to the story going on behind the scenes.
I think after the way Jeremy Kerley played Sunday, the Jets probably determined Kerley was ready to take the slot role, and the insurance Mason provided was no longer needed relative to the problems he caused. Any reservations about making a move disappeared.