Jets taking ill-advised gamble on Mason

The Jets have proved to be an elite team these last two seasons under Rex Ryan. Which is what makes Thursday's move -- the release of capable receiver and good guy Jerricho Cotchery -- all the more puzzling.

Cotchery is coming off back surgery, and releasing him saves the Jets more than $2 million against the salary cap. He also, according to Ryan, wanted out. Those are all valid reasons for a release.

But the plan to bring in 37-year-old Derrick Mason to be the No. 3 receiver to replace Cotchery -- while Plaxico Burress missed his first practice Thursday night because of an ankle injury -- smacks of something an elite team doesn't do: taking a risk when the safe play would have been perfectly fine.

Ryan's Jets have been gamblers, frequently taking on the talented but troubled player in the last two offseasons. Mason is not a troublemaker but he is 37, the oldest receiver in football. Burress isn't too far behind; he turns 34 in a week.

The Jets needed to gamble when Ryan arrived to change the talent level. They're still gambling even as they sit among the top teams in the AFC.

And this time the gamble involves removing one of the longest-tenured, most admired players in the room in Cotchery.

"He has a clean record. He's not out here getting in trouble," Darrelle Revis said. "He's out here representing himself in the right way. You gotta try to at least reward a guy or keep him on the team as long as you can because those guys, you want to try to replace them but you really can't, I think."

Mark Sanchez said he talked to Cotchery this week to get his receiver to change his mind about wanting to leave. Whether the decision to ask for a move came from Cotchery hearing he wouldn't be part of the core offense or whether he simply wanted a fresh start wasn't known Thursday.

Either way, Cotchery is gone, and he will be missed.

And yes, Plax is still Plax. This injury, like the right ankle problem that kept him from practicing nearly the entire 2007 season with the Giants, or like the "fell in the shower" knee injury that nearly kept him out of Super Bowl XLII, seemed to crop up at the most awkward time, with the CBA ratified and every other new Jet participating in Thursday night's practice.

Ryan and Burress swore this ankle injury was nothing, but it can never be nothing with Burress, not anymore.

He is relaxed and confident as ever, saying "I know me" when asked why he believes he'll be so good when he finally gets back to the field.

But Burress hasn't played a day of football since November 2008. He has his $3.017 million guaranteed from the Jets, a fair bit more than the $1.8 million Cotchery was due this season, but there are no guarantees that Burress, who might not start practicing until Monday, can be what he once was.

Burress said he knows how to get ready without practice, citing that Super Bowl season. But those were light years ago in football age. Burress still is a huge question mark.

By granting Cotchery's wish, the Jets are convinced that Santonio Holmes, Burress and Mason, along with reliable tight end Dustin Keller and LaDainian Tomlinson out of the backfield on third downs, will be enough targets for Sanchez.

It looks like change for change's sake. The Jets have their core of homegrown talent in Sanchez, Nick Mangold, Revis and David Harris, but the components around them have been in flux ever since Ryan came on board.

After a 9-7 season in Year 1 of the Rex era and despite the run to the AFC Championship Game, the Jets had reason to shuffle the deck and bring in Holmes and Tomlinson, among others. The offense needed improving. After last season's improvement and second straight trip to the AFC title game, it seemed only a few tweaks were needed.

Cotchery may not be a top target anymore and his health still may be a question mark, but he was a constant -- a familiar face in the huddle for Sanchez. A Jet who could be counted upon to play hurt, to play smart and to be a positive presence in the locker room.

None of that is assured with Burress.

The Jets are an elite team now. So how come they're still gambling on personnel like a team that has to show it can compete with the big boys?