[NFL] Jets Sign Testaverde

[Xeonic]

Just one day after apprising Vinny Testaverde in a telephone call that they would likely go in a different direction as they scramble to address a quarterback situation suddenly in crisis mode, the New York Jets on Tuesday reversed field and signed the veteran passer, who will begin practicing with the team this week.

The addition of Testaverde, 41, comes as the Jets seem resigned to losing starter Chad Pennington for the balance of the season. Team officials will await the results of a second examination of Pennington's damaged right shoulder, expected to be performed Tuesday by Dr. James Andrews, but are close to announcing the former first-rounder will not play again in 2005.

Team officials are expected to announce sometime Tuesday that backup Jay Fiedler, who has a partially dislocated right shoulder and is also scheduled to be checked by Andrews, will be sidelined indefinitely. Despite reports that Fiedler will miss the rest of the year, there is some feeling he could return in about two months, since his injury isn't expected to require surgery.

Third-year veteran Brooks Bollinger, a sixth-round pick from Wisconsin in the 2003 draft, will start Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens. It will mark the first start for Bollinger, who has appeared in just one regular-season contest.

Testaverde, who started 15 games for the Dallas Cowboys in 2004, will begin his second stint with the Jets. The Long Island native played with the team from 1998-2003, starting in 57 games in that stretch. For his career, the 18-year veteran has appeared in 217 games and started in 204 of them. He has completed 3,631 of 6,420 passes for 44,475 yards, with 268 touchdown passes and 255 interceptions.

With the Cowboys in 2004, Testaverde threw for 3,532 yards, with 17 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions.

On Monday, cognizant of the injuries to Pennington and Fiedler, both of which occurred in Sunday's overtime loss to Jacksonville, Testaverde phoned head coach Herm Edwards to offer his services. Although not completely rebuffed, Testaverde was told that the club was considering other alternatives, and would likely sign a quarterback who had been in an NFL training camp this summer.

By Tuesday, though, Jets officials had decided Testaverde offered the best opportunity for winning this season. Details of the contract he signed were not yet available. He is expected to meet with Jets coaches on Tuesday to begin reviewing the playbook.

While he comes with some drawbacks -- notably a lack of mobility and a propensity for turnovers -- Testaverde might actually be a good fit for the offense installed this summer by new offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger. The design calls for a more vertical passing game than the Jets have featured in recent seasons, with the ball going deeper up the field, and Testaverde still has solid arm strength.

There was some thought this spring, with Pennington coming off extensive surgery to his right shoulder and having experienced injuries that forced him to miss time in both 2003 and 2004, that the Jets might sign Testaverde as an insurance policy. The team opted for the younger Fiedler instead and Testaverde was not in any team's camp this summer.

In addition to his first tenure with the Jets, Testaverde, the first overall pick in the 1987 draft, has played with Tampa Bay (1987-1992), Cleveland (1993-95), Baltimore (1996-1997) and Dallas (2004).

Even as the Jets completed the deal with Testaverde, who can essentially drive to work every day now, the team was still considering other option to bolster the depth chart.

The Jets are scheduled to audition three veteran free agent quarterbacks -- Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer and Jonathan Quinn -- on Tuesday and a team official said they could bring in three or four more before the end of the week. It is possible, after Andrews examines Pennington and Fiedler on Tuesday, and renders an opinion on their shoulder injuries, that New York might be forced to add another quarterback beyond just Testaverde.

Several league sources told ESPN.com that the Jets have inquired about the availability of former Washington starter Patrick Ramsey, demoted two weeks ago, but were told by the Redskins they will not trade him. League sources also confirmed Tuesday morning that the Jets have had no discussions with Tennessee about the possibility of trading for Titans backup Billy Volek, widely viewed as one of the top No. 2 quarterbacks in the league. Volek played under Heimerdinger in Tennessee and knows the offense well.

With Pennington now likely to have a second rotator cuff surgery in less than a year, his long-term viability as the team's franchise-caliber quarterback is in question. Before the start of the 2004 season, the Jets signed Pennington to a seven-year contract extension worth $64 million and including $23 million in bonuses.

It is not known if a quarterback has ever recovered from two rotator cuff surgeries, let alone two in less than a year. Andrews, who performed the original surgery, is hoping that the latest setback is just a case of Pennington tearing adhesions and scar tissue in the shoulder, but that might be overly optimistic. There are some in the Jets organization who fear Pennington's career could be ended by the latest injury or that, at the very least, he will never be the same as the quarterback who led the league in passing in 2002.

Jets team physician Dr. Elliott Pellman has apprised Pennington that he suffered a torn right rotator cuff, ESPN and ESPN.com confirmed on Monday night. While they would like to hold out hope, Jets officials seem to concur with that diagnosis.

Source: ESPN.com

Haha, this is awesome. Wonder how much the signing of him will help, he probably will start in a few weeks.

[Ayepecks]

I think it's a good move, given the free agents available. Testaverde really wasn't that bad with Dallas, either. Not great, but he wasn't bad at all.

[Toastyone]

It is a good move IMO for the Jets since I would rather have Testaverde than Brooks Bollinger at least until I see him play some.....

[bigbluepride35]

That's so sad lol. Having to turn back to the ageless wonder Testaverde? :laugh: :rofl:

[sanctified Veteran]

He must feel odd. Returning to his old team

[DreAming in DigITal]

I think this is a great move for the Jets...I think they should have also looked at Kitna. I think he was the best available...but Testaverde is a proven QB who has played for about 20 years and can still throw any pass that the Jets would require.

[UnaBonger]

Vinny will play better off the bench than Chad was for the first three games this season...

[Laughing-Man]

I just realized that Vinny has been playing since I was in kindergarden and I graduated college last year. Yikes.

[Nexus]

I didn't know he was still playing I thought he retired 2-3 years ago.

[Toxikk Veteran]

damn yo. sucks for chad. wah.

vinny is the man!

[bigbluepride35]

I didn't know he was still playing I thought he retired 2-3 years ago.

586591005[/snapback]

He did retire (last year I believe) but the Jets were desperate lol. He had a good career with them so I guess he figured he'd try to bail them out. Hey if the guy can still throw, good for him. I just don't see him as still capable of taking a team to the playoffs.

[BroChaos Veteran]

why do you guys think vinny is that great? he's never actually done anything impressive, has he?

i thought he set some record for INTs in a year or something like that though.

personally, i'd go with bollinger.

vinny will not be able to compete anymore.

[bigbluepride35]

True. He did his best with Parcells. But then, who hasn't? :p The Tuna is the man :yes:

[Gfunk4life]

vinny was on some bad teams, and he still have the long ball.

he played with the bucs for 4 years 112 ints vs 77 TDs his fors 4 years.

cle for 3 years 37 ints vs 47 TDs

Bal for 2 years 34 ints vs 51 TDs

NY jets for 6 years 52 ints vs 76 TDs

but last year he had 20 ints vs 17 TDs and the last 3, 16 game seasons he had 6 more ints then TDs

TD= 268

int= 255

most ints in a year was 35; 2nd year in the NFL

most TDs in a year was 33; 10 years in the NFL

13 more TDs ints

[Deadlydread]

And in Other news Jerry Rice comes back to the 49ers and realizes that they suck and he cant catch a ball with no defenders around him and retires 1 hour after being signed.