10/07 — Mike Tannenbaum was on his way out to practice this morning, but he knew there would be a few questions the assembled reporters might want to ask him so he stopped by for an informal eight-minute news conference in the media room.

The subject, of course, is WR Braylon Edwards, the newest Jet, acquired from the Cleveland Browns in a trade for WR Chansi Stuckey, LB Jason Trusnik and undisclosed draft picks. Eric Allen will have the news story on Mike T's remarks and Edwards, who has not yet arrived at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center today but is expected to talk with reporters later this afternoon.

But there were a few key talking points that Tannenbaum addressed that are worth stressing now.

For one thing, we knew Mr. T would stress that Edwards will be a part of the Jets' efforts this season but that he's not going to measure Braylon and the trade by how he compares to that marvelous 2007 Browns season of 80 receptions, 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns.

"We're excited to have him. We like the environment he's coming into," Tannenbaum said. "He has a lot of good teammates that are going to be supportive for him to be successful. I think he's going to help us be a winning football team. I'm not into receptions or touchdowns — I'm into winning football. Whatever he could do to help us win, block in the running game, take coverages to his side of the field, that's what we're looking for. Obviously there'll be a lot of production as well, but we're not going to assess this trade based on X catches or number of touchdowns. It's more about the total package."

That package includes investigations by the NFL and Cleveland police following accusations Edwards assaulted a man outside a nightclub in downtown Cleveland. But also, as we knew he would, Mike T said that, while the NFL has give the Jets no assurances, the Jets completed their homework.

"We reached out to the league and [vice president of security] Steve Yarnell reached out to law enforcement," he said. "We're comfortable in adding Braylon. We'll cooperate with all the authorities, but we're glad he's here. We did all our due diligence and we're comfortable adding him to the team."

The final point I want to make is the people side of this deal. Fans will debate — already are debating — the pluses and minuses of adding Edwards to the Green & White equation and taking Stuckey and Trusnik out of it. But Chansi and Jason are two good guys, solid citizens and good players and the difficulty of this trade was in more than just putting together the right players and draft picks for the Browns to say "Let's make a deal."

"I had a gut-wrenching conversation with Jason Trusnik," Tannenbaum said. "As a GM — this may not make complete sense to you — but Darrelle Revis, Mark Sanchez, D'Brickashaw, you take those guys in the first round, you expect them to come in and be really good players.

"But I get much more of a feeling of accomplishment when a guy like Jason comes in as a free agent ... or Chansi Stuckey comes in as a seventh-round pick, and with their character and their work ethic become the players they are. I feel such a sense of fulfillment as a GM. And it just tears your guts out to let them go, to leave your building, because you do everything you can to get those types of guys in the building."

But in the late hours Tuesday night, he, head coach Rex Ryan and owner Woody Johnson weighed the deal and decided to pull the lever.

"Those are really tough calls to make. At the end of the day, as a general manager and as a head coach, we have to do what's best for the Jets. But as a human being, I'll tell you, it tore me up to say goodbye to those two guys this morning."

The bottom line, though, is that Mike T, Rex and Woody feel they've added a player who will help the Jets' passing game, running game, offense and team as we move forward through the regular season, toward the playoffs and toward the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl.

"We had to give up value, no question about it," Tannenbaum said, "but we're excited about the value we're getting."