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mmarra82 · 04-02-2004, 11:34 AM

March 21, 2003

Hempstead, NY

Owner Woody Johnson - "The past three weeks has seen our organziation make decisions that were not easy ones. Long tenured players have moved on, and the organization has changed its focus. General Manager Michael Marra, and Coach McGregor and their staff have the ownerships full support. At this time I ask General Manager Michael Marra to address you. Mr. Marra will explain the team's decision making process and then will take some questions from you. Mike..."

GM Marra - "As Mr. Johnson stated, the past three weeks have seen more changes in the Jets' organization, this time to our club's roster. Currently we are about a projected $10 million under the league salary cap, once the draft is completed and any further free agency signings occur. Once we have our roster established we will begin to look at extending the contracts of some of our core players whose contracts are up following the 2004 season.

Our organziation's goal is to compete and ultimately get the New York Jets back to the Super Bowl in a three year window. In order to get the plan in action we had to part ways with some veteran players. Our longest tenure Jet Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones were released to free up the necessary cap space to bring in youger players on the Defense. We have addressed these issues by signing Hannibal Navies to play the strong side and Al Singleton for the weak side, Sam Cowart will be moved to his more natural position, the middle. We explored the possiblity of signing a Defensive Tackle, however, the top Defensive Tackles asking prices were high, and we felt we could work this position from within the organziation and through the draft. We are currently looking at suring up our Safety position through free agency and the draft as well.

Because of today's salary cap, we faced the tough decisions of seeing some young talent move to Washington. Unrestricted Free Agent Randy Thomas was offered a very lucrative deal, that we felt we could not match because of our cap situation. The move of Restricted Free Agent Laverneus Coles puts this organziation in a good position. We tendered an offer to Coles that would grant us a first and third round pick if he signed with someone else. Washington offered Coles a contract that we could have matched however, it would have made our cap situation difficult to handle next season when we have to extend what we feel are our key players for the future. After speaking with the staff and scouts we feel that Moss, who has a similar build, can fit into Coles role, and Coach McGregor would like to obtain a taller more physical receiver to play opposite. We are looking at some veteran wide outs as well as players in this year's draft.

The decision to keep Chad Morton was a deal that made sense to us. If we had allowed Morton to move on to Washington, we would have received a 5th round pick. Now we have someone still here to handle kick return responsibilities as well as add another dimension out of the backfield.

We now have two picks in the first round, a pick in the second round and two picks in the third round to help fill any needs and allow this team to compete for years to come.

At this time I can take some questions.

"Have you had any contact with other teams about moving your two first round picks, and moving up in the first round to obtain one of the elite players?"

Marra - "At this time, no, although we were only awarded the picks a couple of days ago."

"Because of the short time the front office and staff has had to prepare for free agency, do you feel you lost out on some players, such as Coles and Thomas?"

Marra - "I was hear when we tried to negotiate a long term deal with Coles, but I think they knew he would receive some offers and wanted the opportunity to explore them. As far as what was out on the market, I feel we did well, there was a lot interest in some of the players we signed, and they ended up with us."

"How much input has the coaching staff had in the decision making process?"

Marra - "Myself, the Scouting Staff and the Coaching Staff has spent countless hours over the past three weeks evaluating our own personnel, unrestricted and restricted free agents and the draft pool. We are all on the same page, we want players that are younger, quicker and can adapt to the new system."

"Will Vinny Testaverde be with the team this season?"

Marra - "Coach McGregor and myself spoke with Vinny and informed him that we would like to have him back for the season."

"Will Vinny's role be solely as a backup?"

Marra - "I cannot answer that for certainty, that will be the coaches' choice."

"Will we see any more signings before the draft?"

Marra - "It is possible, we are scheduled to meet with Minnesota Vikings' Safety, Tyrone Carter, San Diego Chargers' Receiver, Curtis Conway and Seattle's Restricted Free Agent Wide Receiver, Darrell Jackson. We also plan to workout several players in the nex week or so, then direct our full attention to the draft."

PR Director - "At this time our press conference is concluded, Coach McGregor will now meet with scheduled reporters one to one at fifteen minutes each. Thank you for coming."

04-02-2004, 11:34 AM	#30
mmarra82 High School Varsity Join Date: May 2001 Location: Oakdale, New York	March 21, 2003 Hempstead, NY Owner Woody Johnson - "The past three weeks has seen our organziation make decisions that were not easy ones. Long tenured players have moved on, and the organization has changed its focus. General Manager Michael Marra, and Coach McGregor and their staff have the ownerships full support. At this time I ask General Manager Michael Marra to address you. Mr. Marra will explain the team's decision making process and then will take some questions from you. Mike..." GM Marra - "As Mr. Johnson stated, the past three weeks have seen more changes in the Jets' organization, this time to our club's roster. Currently we are about a projected $10 million under the league salary cap, once the draft is completed and any further free agency signings occur. Once we have our roster established we will begin to look at extending the contracts of some of our core players whose contracts are up following the 2004 season. Our organziation's goal is to compete and ultimately get the New York Jets back to the Super Bowl in a three year window. In order to get the plan in action we had to part ways with some veteran players. Our longest tenure Jet Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones were released to free up the necessary cap space to bring in youger players on the Defense. We have addressed these issues by signing Hannibal Navies to play the strong side and Al Singleton for the weak side, Sam Cowart will be moved to his more natural position, the middle. We explored the possiblity of signing a Defensive Tackle, however, the top Defensive Tackles asking prices were high, and we felt we could work this position from within the organziation and through the draft. We are currently looking at suring up our Safety position through free agency and the draft as well. Because of today's salary cap, we faced the tough decisions of seeing some young talent move to Washington. Unrestricted Free Agent Randy Thomas was offered a very lucrative deal, that we felt we could not match because of our cap situation. The move of Restricted Free Agent Laverneus Coles puts this organziation in a good position. We tendered an offer to Coles that would grant us a first and third round pick if he signed with someone else. Washington offered Coles a contract that we could have matched however, it would have made our cap situation difficult to handle next season when we have to extend what we feel are our key players for the future. After speaking with the staff and scouts we feel that Moss, who has a similar build, can fit into Coles role, and Coach McGregor would like to obtain a taller more physical receiver to play opposite. We are looking at some veteran wide outs as well as players in this year's draft. The decision to keep Chad Morton was a deal that made sense to us. If we had allowed Morton to move on to Washington, we would have received a 5th round pick. Now we have someone still here to handle kick return responsibilities as well as add another dimension out of the backfield. We now have two picks in the first round, a pick in the second round and two picks in the third round to help fill any needs and allow this team to compete for years to come. At this time I can take some questions. "Have you had any contact with other teams about moving your two first round picks, and moving up in the first round to obtain one of the elite players?" Marra - "At this time, no, although we were only awarded the picks a couple of days ago." "Because of the short time the front office and staff has had to prepare for free agency, do you feel you lost out on some players, such as Coles and Thomas?" Marra - "I was hear when we tried to negotiate a long term deal with Coles, but I think they knew he would receive some offers and wanted the opportunity to explore them. As far as what was out on the market, I feel we did well, there was a lot interest in some of the players we signed, and they ended up with us." "How much input has the coaching staff had in the decision making process?" Marra - "Myself, the Scouting Staff and the Coaching Staff has spent countless hours over the past three weeks evaluating our own personnel, unrestricted and restricted free agents and the draft pool. We are all on the same page, we want players that are younger, quicker and can adapt to the new system." "Will Vinny Testaverde be with the team this season?" Marra - "Coach McGregor and myself spoke with Vinny and informed him that we would like to have him back for the season." "Will Vinny's role be solely as a backup?" Marra - "I cannot answer that for certainty, that will be the coaches' choice." "Will we see any more signings before the draft?" Marra - "It is possible, we are scheduled to meet with Minnesota Vikings' Safety, Tyrone Carter, San Diego Chargers' Receiver, Curtis Conway and Seattle's Restricted Free Agent Wide Receiver, Darrell Jackson. We also plan to workout several players in the nex week or so, then direct our full attention to the draft." PR Director - "At this time our press conference is concluded, Coach McGregor will now meet with scheduled reporters one to one at fifteen minutes each. Thank you for coming."