The Youth Movement

The youth movement with the Jets continued yesterday as they named the 36 year-old Mike Tannenbaum as their general manager. With head coach Eric Mangini, 35, the two will form the youngest coach/GM combination in the NFL. The Redskins and Chargers could have 10 year olds as their GMs and still be older than the Jets pair. Tannenbaum, who was the senior vice president for football operations and assistant general manager, takes over for Terry Bradway, who remains with the team as a "consultant for player personnel" as he has two years left on his contract.

Tannenbaum, a Massachusetts native, went to Tulane Law and is viewed as a salary cap guru - he helped on the deal to bring Curtis Martin to the Jets in 1998. Before becoming the general manager, Tannenbaum may have played a significant role in brining Mangini to the Jets as well. The two had a history together during their first year in the NFL, both under Bill Belichick while he was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Time will tell if youth will be served, but it seems like associates think he's ready.

Photo from NewYorkJets.com

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By tien mao on February 8, 2006 9:06 AM

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Jo

FWIW - this is one of the few recollections of Tannebaum's 9 years with the Jets anyone will remember.

He was the tool who screwed up the Chad Morton fiasco in 2003 - here's a quick refresher.

The 'Skins signed Morton, a restricted free agent, to an offer sheet. The Jets matched the Washington offer.

But the Jets didn't match all of the key terms, so an arbitrator decided that the Jets really didn't match the offer -- and declared that Morton was the property of the Redskins.

Wrote Vinny DiTrani of The Bergen Record at the time: "Unfortunately for the Jets, they heeded the legal advice from people supposed to provide legal advice."

And, at the time, the guy providing that advice was assistant G.M., cap expert, and trained legal advice provider Mike Tannenbaum.