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Fanning the flames of the feud Pats' selection of Light more fuel to Pats-Jets rivalry
Throw another log onto the Jets-Patriots fire. The NFL Draft, which is made for stories like this, just made this rivalry a little hotter. Purdue guard Matt Light was watching the draft on TV at a friend's home in Indiana midway through the second round, right around the No. 46 pick, when his cell phone rang. It was the Jets, who had the 49th overall selection. Hang loose, the Jets said; we might take you with this pick. Two minutes into his conversation with the Jets, the Patriots, holding the 50th pick, rang the other phone in the house. Light then had phones to each ear. The Patriots asked who was on the other line. "The Jets," Light said. The Patriots told him: We're putting you on hold for a minute, but do not under any circumstances hang up. "I waited 90 seconds, maybe two minutes, then the Patriots came back on the line. They told me they just traded ahead of the Jets with Detroit to get me." Sure enough, the trade was then announced on TV, New England and Detroit trading the 48th and 50th picks, with the Pats throwing in a sixth-round pick. New England trumped the Jets, getting Light, while New York then plucked Maryland running back LaMont Jordan. I asked Light if he knew anything about the Pats-Jets blood feud. "No," he said. "What's up with that?" Well, kid, Bill Parcells jumped from the Pats to the Jets, and he stole running back Curtis Martin from the Pats in the process, and Bill Belichick jumped from the Jets to the Pats, and he took Parcells' son-in-law and personnel man, Scott Pioli, with him, and ..."Wow," Light said. "It'll be neat to be a part of all that." Neat? Intense is more like it. Talent in the unemployment lineNow that the draft has come and gone, teams are turning their attention to the richest crop of unemployed veterans the league has ever seen this late in the free agency season. But how many of these guys are willing to play for near the NFL veteran minimum of $477,000?
Pass-rusher Chidi Ahanotu is a year removed from being the Bucs' second-best front-seven player. Bryan Cox has turned into an excellent leader and still has a good year in him. Terrell Buckley would be one of the five best nickel corners in the game -- for the right price. And Trent Dilfer's best shot might be to back up Jeff George in Washington, just down the beltway from last year's Super Bowl glory. And just think: This list doesn't include Jerry Rice and Cortez Kennedy, who have very limited market strength because of their age. But both should end up with jobs. Nor does the list include players expected to be cut on June 1, like wideout Herman Moore, who is balking at playing for one year and a million with the Lions. Filling a positional need is trendyThe biggest trend in the draft this year? That's easy. Let me take you into the Seahawks' war room, mid-first round, to explain how teams went for need this year more than ever. Usually a good half of the teams go for the best player on their board, almost regardless of position. This year that number was much less. Seattle had one defensive player on its first-round board as the draft hit No. 20. That was Shaun Rogers, the tackle with the bad high ankle sprain and injury history from Texas. But the Seahawks also needed a cover corner to pair with Shawn Springs in the worst way, and so when the 40th pick overall came up, early in the second round, Seattle bypassed Rogers to pluck Mississippi corner Ken Lucas. It happened everywhere. The Giants traded up to get the corner they wanted and sacrificed two other choices. The Cowboys reached two rounds too soon for a prospective quarterback of the future, Quincy Carter. The Rams went defense on their first five picks to prop up the most generous unit in points allowed last year. The moral of the story? If you have a crying need in today's game, you'd better fill it as fast as you can. Contention is fleeting. Tough situation in The Big EasyHere's the deal on Ricky Williams' future in New Orleans: He does want out, but it's unrealistic, at least for now, that he'll get to leave. He's wanted out since the Saints refused to re-do his contract after the 2000 season, and he wants out more than ever now that the Saints plucked Deuce McAllister in the first round to challenge Williams for playing time. The problem, as it always is with big stars, is the salary-cap hit the team would take for trading Williams -- $4.7 million right now. If a deal were to happen after the June 1 deadline, the hit would be fractionally less -- some on this year's cap, most on next year's -- but still too much. Still, if New Orleans were to take the hit after June 1, they'd have interested parties in rush-needy Cleveland and Miami. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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