New York Jets: A Game of Chess

According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Chargers have narrowed their General Manager search to Jimmy Raye and Tom Telesco. Why should you care? Because as we noted yesterday, our own GM candidate Tom Gamble announced that tomorrow, he would be interviewing for the same position with the Chargers. Why would he do that if it was publicly known that he wasn't a finalist?

The answer, to me, is simple. Gamble is playing hardball with Woody Johnson in his contract negotiations. The New York Jets are doing likewise, leaking to the press yesterday that they're eyeing other candidates. It seems odd to me that Gamble would cancel his trip to the Jacksonville Jaguars - not reschedule it, as he did with the Chargers - if he wasn't serious about the Jets job, as he loses out on an opportunity to be a NFL General Manager. Both sides seem to be playing against one another as they search for the upper hand in the negotiations.

This is all speculation, of course. I may be wrong, and we may lose out on Gamble. But as David Vill noted in his Jets Flight Connections, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a cancellation of Gamble's trip to San Diego tonight, after the Jets have satisfied the Rooney Rule by interviewing Marc Ross. If that's the case, we may yet see Gamble introduced as the new general manager at tomorrow's press conference. I just hope, if these hardball negotiation techniques are what's at play, that the Jets don't overextend their hand.