Many on Jets' roster have futures up in air

PITTSBURGH - As tears welled in Jason Taylor's eyes, the Jets defensive end couldn't say whether last night's AFC Championship Game loss to the Steelers was the final game of his NFL career.

"There are so many emotions going through me right now," the 36-year-old Taylor said when asked if he plans to return next season. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

LaDainian Tomlinson said he plans to be back next year, although he didn't sound entirely definitive.

"I'm under contract, and I plan on honoring my contract, so we'll see what happens," the 31-year-old running back said.

Taylor and Tomlinson are two of several Jets whose futures are not quite certain. They join cornerback Antonio Cromartie and wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, as well as veteran fullback Tony Richardson, whose whereabouts next season might not be known for quite some time.

Of all the players, Taylor is the most likely not to return, and there's a decent chance he'll wind up retiring. He drew interest from only one team - the Jets - and signed a two-year, $13-million contract. But with nearly $10 million allocated to Taylor for the 2011 season, the team won't bring him back on his current deal and might not bring him back at all.

"It was a good run to this point. Obviously, tonight wasn't what we expected," Taylor said. "It's the toughest loss I've ever been a part of. It was so close, you could see it, you could smell it, you could feel it. You work so hard to get to this point. We needed one more to get to where we needed to go. It wasn't meant to be."

Tomlinson signed a two-year, $5.1-million deal in the offseason, but it remains to be seen whether the Jets will bring him back. He rushed for 914 yards in the regular season but rushed for 82, 43 and 16 yards in his three playoff games. He had nine carries in the Jets' 24-19 loss to the Steelers and was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the Steelers' 1 midway through the fourth quarter.

"I tried to fight as hard as I could," Tomlinson said of the fourth-down play. "I wanted to extend the ball but couldn't get the ball up to extend it. It's tough. We fought back in the second half and felt like we had a chance to win the game. It's tough to come up short. It's a missed opportunity. It seemed like things were lining up for us, but it didn't happen."

The Jets have indicated publicly that they'd like to bring back Cromartie, Holmes and Edwards, but general manager Mike Tannenbaum has indicated that uncertainty about the labor situation likely will delay any decisions. The NFL currently is negotiating with the NFL Players Association regarding an extension of the collective-bargaining agreement, but if no agreement is reached, there might be a lockout in March.

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith recently heated up the rhetoric in the CBA negotiations, telling player reps that the union and NFL owners are "at war."