The Twitter servers are being overloaded this evening as word spreads like wildfire of the trade that sent Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets.
Ironically, the move comes only days after Ken Laird of ESPN 1250 in Pittsburgh reported that Holmes didn’t believe the Steelers will pay him big money, and that Holmes wanted to play in a big market.
And so the former Buckeye is now paired with a former Wolverine, Braylon Edwards. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) They’ll both be catching passes from a former Trojan, while a former Horned Frog sits at the end of the bench and pouts.
Meanwhile, Peter King of SI.com and NBC put it best in characterizing the move: “A shot across the bow to Big Ben.” King also points out that the Steelers could have played this out for something more than a fourth-round pick, but that the Steelers opted to get it done, displaying a “we’re not gonna take it anymore attitude.”
We’re also wondering whether the Steelers pulled the trigger on the deal so quickly because they fear there’s a chance that, come 2:00 p.m. E.T. on Monday, they’ll get another dose of bad news from District Attorney Fred Bright, ESPN’s report on the matter notwithstanding.
Either way, the stakes for Monday’s press conference just went way, way up. If Roethlisberger gets charged, he could be the next one to be traded for a cold turkey sandwich with wilted lettuce.
