JETS EXTEND LITO

After picking up the rights to cornerback Lito Sheppard via a trade with the Eagles, the Jets have given Sheppard a new contract. Per a league source, it’s a two-year extension to a contract that has three remaining years. He’ll get $3 million in 2009, his prior base salary. Thereafter, it’s a four-year, $21 million deal. On the fifth day of the 2010 league year, Sheppard receives a $10 million option bonus. If Sheppard participates in at least 39 percent of the plays in 2009, Sheppard’s salary escalates by $1.55 million per year for 2010 through 2013, making the four-year package after this season worth $27.2 million. Of course, the Jets could cut Sheppard before the fifth day of the league year, but he’d be an unrestricted free agent. If, in the end, he stays for all five years (and participates in at least 39 percent of the snaps this season), he’ll make $30.2 million. So instead of having the three-year, $10.95 million contract that previously applied, he’s got a five-year deal worth $30.2 million -- if he meets the play-time trigger. (Otherwise, it’s five years and $25 million.) The bad news for Sheppard is that, if he wins the starting job across from up-and-coming star Darrelle Revis, Sheppard might find himself in a hail storm of footballs, like DeAngelo Hall last year across from Nnamdi Asomugha in Oakland.