03/17 — Bubba Franks isn't the NFL's biggest free agency signing this off-season. Heck, the tight end wasn't even unrestricted, having been shown the salary cap door by the Green Bay Packers after eight seasons.

But in Franks, whose addition to the Jets was made official with the signing of his contract at the team complex today, the Jets and the fans know what they're getting.

They're getting a load of a player, a 6'6", 265-pounder who unselfishly gave up receptions the last three seasons to become a part of the blocking scheme that opened holes for Ahman Green and Ryan Grant and protected "The Franchise," Brett Favre.

They're getting a receiver who won't ever be confused with Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez — in fact, he's the polar opposite. Franks has averaged 9.0 yards per catch in his career, it's true. But he also has 32 touchdown passes in his career, fourth-most among tight ends since 2000, plus three more in the playoffs.

Thirty-one of those 35 TDs have come in the red zone, 27 from 8 yards out or closer, eight from a yard away — and all eight of them tossed to him by Favre. (By comparison, incumbent TE Chris Baker has a franchise-record seven 1-yard TD catches, all in the last four seasons.)

They're getting another first-rounder. Franks, the 14th overall pick of the 2000 draft by Green Bay, joins O-linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, LB Calvin Pace and CB Andre Woolfolk as former first-round picks who have signed on with the Green & White in the last 2½ weeks.

They're getting a guy who's been banged up recently, with a knee injury in 2005 and knee and back problems last season. But before '05, Franks hadn't missed a game in his first five NFL seasons.

They're getting a winner. The Pack was 72-50, a .590 winning percentage, in the 122 games Franks played. And they were 23-9 (.719) in the games he caught a touchdown pass in. And in part because of that he "established himself as one of the top tight ends in Packers history," according to Green Bay's 2007 media guide.

They're getting another quality individual on and off the field. Franks has been a major supporter of the Salvation Army, spent December evenings in 2002-03 with cancer patients at Green Bay's St. Vincent Hospital reading Christmas stories and handing out gifts, and was named the Packers 2006 Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner.

Bubba Franks may sound like a no-frills kind of TE, but he also sounds like an Eric Mangini type of player. And he becomes the newest fleet member in this off-season of many new Jets.