It seems that where there was smoke there was fire concerning Alan Faneca’s future with the New York Jets.
Manish Mehta of the Newark Star-Ledger is reporting that the team will formally announce the veteran guard’s release on Monday. Reports surfaced early last week that Faneca could be on the way out of Rex Ryan’s clubhouse and picked up steam through the first two days of the draft.
The Jets were shopping Faneca for a trade, but the $7.5 million they didn’t want to pay him was likely a deterrent for other teams as well. With $5.25 million of that contract guaranteed, the Jets clearly don’t think Faneca’s presence is necessary for them to make a run back to the AFC Championship Game and beyond.
Massachusetts offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse was the team’s second-round pick, another signal that a change was coming, and when G.M. Mike Tannenbaum spoke with reporters Friday night he didn’t do much to throw anyone off the scent.
“Alan’s on our team. He’s done a lot of great things for us. I know this weekend that there’s typically a lot of transactions that happen, but he’s on our team and Alan’s done a lot of great things for us.”
The past tense would appear to be the only tense for Faneca and the Jets going forward.