Herm Leaving Town?

We hear Kansas City is quite nice, but since when is a move there an upgrade? All things considered, for Jets head coach Herman Edwards, it might be. Several sources are reporting that Edwards, the Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs were nearing a deal that will allow him to bolt with two seasons still remaining on his contract. He would replace his friend and onetime coach, Dick Vermeil. By all accounts, he'd be walking into a better scenario in KC, with better pay, less of a pressure-filled fishbowl and a team only a hair from being a force. Those aspects have worked out pretty well for Edwards' close friend Tony Dungy in Indianapolis.

While Edwards is one of the most respected and liked coaches in the NFL despite a lack of quantitative success (he is 39-41 over four seasons), it might be a decent scenario for all involved - with the Jets taking on the most risk (middle round draft picks from the Chiefs as compensation and a yet another coaching search in a year in which few big names are around).

Is it official yet? Maybe not if the Jets management reads Mike Lupica's feisty rant this morning...."The idea that you make a move like this because you don't want an unhappy employee on your hands is a joke, the way the Jets look like a joke franchise every few years when another coach walks out on them."

Basically, it's the rarest of NFL coaching scenarios - in which a coach can go 4-12 and essentially demand a big raise. Stay tuned. Update: (9:18 a.m.) ESPN reports the Jets have cancelled Herm's season-ending press conference, which had been scheduled for today.

Photo by Reuters/Dave Kaup