02/29 — There are some difficult goodbyes in the game of football, and this is one of them:

Goodbye, Jonathan Vilma. Best of luck and skill as a Saint.

Vilma's stay with the Jets has run the gamut, and today it has run its course as the inside linebacker was traded to New Orleans for an undisclosed draft pick.

I feel the same way as many Green & White fans. Jonathan is a fine linebacker, but there was no question his production as a 3-4 ILB wasn't the same as it was in his first two seasons as a 4-3 MLB. Then with Vilma's knee injury at Cincinnati last season and David Harris' emergence in his place, a trade that benefits both Jon and the Jets is a good way to go.

Vilma gained his entrée into the NFL as the 12th overall selection of the 2004 draft out of "the U" of Miami. And he got his spot in the Jets' starting lineup in a similar way to Harris, when Sam Cowart sprained his MCL in Game 2 at San Diego that year, the result of 800 pounds of bodies — Jets linemen Shaun Ellis and Jason Ferguson tackling the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson — landing on Cowart's planted left leg.

Jonathan took it from there, making 14 starts and 105 tackles and earning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. The next season was even bigger: an NFL-leading 173 tackles, the Jets MVP award and a Pro Bowl berth.

Then Herm Edwards left as head coach, and Eric Mangini came in with the 3-4. A coach has every right to install a scheme he feels comfortable with and believes in, especially if he believes he has the people to execute it, as Mangini did with Vilma and Co.

J-Vil never once complained publicly about the scheme, even though it changed his style of play and even though he got different questions on the same theme from reporters on a weekly basis. He was at his candid best when I talked with him alone a few days before the dismantling of the Packers at Green Bay in December 2006. Here is an excerpt from the story I wrote back then:

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there," Vilma said. "This defense is totally different from the 4-3, but now that we're blitzing a little more, there are some more similarities between the 4-3 and the 3-4.

"It has its similarities to learning a language," said Vilma, who speaks three of them. "If there are five levels to learning a language, I'll say I'm at level three."

He was asked if he'd seen enough interior offensive linemen coming into his kitchen so far.

"Oh, yes," he said, smiling. "I've seen more guards this year than in the rest of my career combined."

But the downturn in tackles at or behind the line (12.5 last year, 3.5 in 11 games this season), forced fumbles (4-0) and solo tackles in general don't mess with his mind.

"There's only frustration because I want to be the best I can be," he said. "I'm a perfectionist. I want to be great at what I'm doing. The 3-4, definitely, this right here is my life. I've got to get it right."

Mangini's argument is that Vilma, like Tedy Bruschi making a similar switch with New England, still needs time to get up to his speed and style.

"Back in 2000, I don't think you'd have said, 'Wow, what an impact year Tedy had,' " Mangini said. "Yet he impacted the defense substantially during that period.

"Jon understands where everybody fits. He's able to move the pieces around without changing the integrity of the defense. He's been a big part of our pursuit to the ball."

Some of those traits were on display last week against Houston. Before one snap, Vilma swatted Dewayne Robertson over from zero-technique (head-up on the center) to one-technique (shading the center's shoulder) _ Robertson made the play. A few plays later, he repositioned Brad Kassell to a different blitz gap _ Kassell rejected a David Carr pass in the backfield.

"I'm still 'The General' out there," Vilma said with a laugh, "still getting them lined up."

Now Vilma will be lining up guys with black fleur-de-lis on their gold helmets. And the Green Team will move on without No. 51's influence for the first time since April 2004.

Assuming everything goes well for the next two years, Vilma will run into his old teammates fairly quickly. The Jets and Saints are scheduled to meet in the Superdome in 2009.