Alan Faneca Deal Makes Everybody Not Named Pete Kendall Very Happy

We're two days into this thing and Jets fans still seem pretty psyched about landing former Steelers guard Alan Faneca.

Sure, New York might've paid a premium for one of the few competent offensive linemen in free agency (five-year, $40 million, $21 million in guarantees), but ultimately, it's probably worth it.

As FanHouse's Tom Mantzouranis wrote on Friday, "On top of his toughness and tenacity, traits the Jets sorely lacked last year, Faneca will do an awful lot for the Jets' youth. On the left side, Faneca will reside between tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold, both third-year players."

Most definitely. But here's the thing: was it really such a good idea to tie up so much money in a 31-year-old player? The offensive line mess is the Jets own doing -- they ran Pete Kendall out of town last off-season, and his departure indirectly led to the Faneca signing.

The seeds of this acquisition were sewn last offseason, when the Jets strong-armed OLG Pete Kendall. Kendall, like Faneca, was a long-tenured, respected veteran. But when he persisted about wanting a $1 million raise from his $1.7 million salary, the Jets first balked, then cut him. Partly because of Kendall's absence, the Jets featured a porous offensive line in 2007, with the OLG spot being particularly problematic.

So let's see, roughly $8 million a year for Faneca, or $2.7 million to keep Kendall happy. Hmm.

In terms of productivity, is there an interior lineman worth $5.3 million more per season than Kendall? Kendall wont' be getting fitted for one of those sweet canary-yellow jackets anytime soon, but he's not exactly Adrien Clarke either.

The point: the Jets can't go wrong with Faneca, it's just that they sure did give up a lot to get him, and they already had a pretty good guard on the roster.