02/29 — This is how Mike Tannenbaum opened up his conference call with Jets beat reporters shortly after 8 p.m.:

"I just want to announce that we've signed Stacy Tutt to an exclusive-rights contract, and that's about it," the Jets general manager said. "So if there are no questions, we'll just call it a day."

Mike T was just kidding, of course — not about Tutt, the fullback who really did sign a new deal, but about calling it a day. The reporters had a few questions about today's events, both those announced by the Jets and those speculated on by others.

Tannenbaum offered one bit of news that, while still somewhat vague as the process takes its course, disagrees with reports by ESPN's John Clayton and others that the compensation for the trade of LB Jonathan Vilma to New Orleans is a 2009 fourth-round pick that could escalate to a third-rounder.

"We do have a firm pick in the 2008 draft," Tannenbaum corrected the writer's information, "and in addition we could acquire a pick in the 2009 draft depending on the 2008 performance that could escalate to higher than what you stated. So that's just not correct."

As for the human part of the trade, the GM replied that Vilma was a part of the "collaborative process" that sent the former Pro Bowl LB and Jets team MVP to the Saints.

"Jon did a lot of great things for us for four years," Tannenbaum said. "I had a great conversation with him again today. When we looked at it as an organization and the depth at the inside linebacker position with David Harris, Eric Barton and Brad Kassell, we felt we have depth there. We thought we got really good value relative to what we got in the trade, again without getting into specifics. And with Jon, it was not really about the injury but about having one year to go on his contract."

On the other big announced news, Tannenbaum went into more detail on bringing Carolina DT Kris Jenkins to the Jets.

"We did a lot of work on this, and we had a great visit with Kris," he said. "We play a multiple-front defense. We like his size, his athleticism. We think he's going to be a really good fit for us. He'll be here for the off-season program. It's up to Eric [Mangini] where he plays, but we feel he fits in a lot of spots along the defensive front."

Another question concerned the speculaton that if Jenkins is here, DT Dewayne Robertson must be on his way to another team.

"I know there's a lot of rumors out there about Dewayne," Tannenbaum said. "Dewayne's 26, he's done a lot of things for us as well. I don't want to comment on any rumors. But depth on the defensive line is important, there's nothing imminent, and Dewayne should be here."

And what of NFL sources saying that Alan Faneca, the Pittsburgh guard, has reached a tentative agreement to come east and join the Jets' offensive line? Mr. T had nothing to report on those reports.

"We're working hard on a lot of guys right now, we've got a lot of calls out," he said. "I have nothing to say about that at this point in time. We're going to keep working hard throughout the whole free agency process. As soon as we have something to announce, we'll let you guys know."

Tannenbaum extended thanks to New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis and Carolina GM Marty Hurney for their parts in the two trades of the day, and also to his own people for the work that began long before today's 12:01 a.m. start to the free agency and trading period.

"Our pro personnel people have done a great job and our coaching staff has done a great job," he said. "Everybody's tired, but we're going to keep working here and see what we can get done for the team."

And with that, Tannenbaum really did call it a day, at least publicly.