A look at the Cotchery release

The Jerricho Cotchery story is definitely a quandary.  Here is my best take on what is going on.

Cotchery was released this afternoon.

Rex Ryan held a press conference following the afternoon practice, and it really didn’t shed any light on what happened with Cotchery. Ryan basically said over and over that Cotchery asked for his release, and the Jets granted it.

It’s clearly not as simple as that.

First off all, if you buy into Rex’s (public) explanation, Jerricho, out of the blue wanted out.

Rex (and then Mark Sanchez) both said, in their post-practice interviews, that we would have to ask Jerricho for a further explanation.  This was clearly the company line given to them by Jets PR guy Bruce Speight, considering they were both basically saying the same thing – “With respect to Jerricho, we think we will let him answer those questions.”

A Jets PR official did reach out to Cotchery to see if he wanted to say anything tonight.

“Jerricho won’t be making any further comments today,” said the publicist.

Reading the tea leaves, clearly the Jets wanted him to take a paycut, and he wanted no part of that, especially after playing the last two years with a herniated disc in his back, taking shots, and doing whatever he could to play on Sunday.

I did hear, from a source close to the team, that the team’s view of the current condition of his back was different than the players. Remember, following his off-season surgery, Cotchery could not rehab with the team, so when the lockout ended in late July, that was the first time the team trainers had a chance to look at him. The Jets might feel he’s not as close to playing as the player thinks he is.

Cotchery has given so much to the organization, on and off-the-field. He was a go-to guy for the community relations department, making a myriad of charity appearances. He was also a go-to guy for the PR department doing interview after interview, often when nobody else was available, he would sit in front of his locker endlessly, answering question after question. He won the media “Good Guy Award” after last year for the extensive help he provided to the press.

And then on top of all that, and most importantly, he was a really good player for this team for eight years, often playing hurt.

Reading the tea leaves, he finally reached his wits end with an organization that he never said “no” to when they asked him to take a cut, when he’s really not making a ton of money by NFL standards.

Also, it’s possible, along with the paycut, they told him he might move to the 4^th receiver spot with players like Jeremy Kerley and Patrick Turner on the scene.

Expect more to come out on this story in the coming days.

Brian “B-Co” Costello of the New York Post reached Mercedes Cotchery, Jerricho’s wife, and she said the family didn’t want to get in a back-and-forth with the team.

Right now, in the Jets press room, writers are calling around, trying to get to the bottom of this story from the sources.