FanHouse Chris Baker

Four of the best quarterbacks in the league, and quite possibly two of the best ever will suit up on Thursday night as week two of the NFL's preseason gets started.

While both Donovan McNabb and Brady have made headlines for off-the-field issues, (McNabb with his insistence on bringing Michael Vick to the Eagles and Brady with news of his wife Gisele and her pregnancy), none of the four play-callers are huge story line material on the field for tonight's matchups.

Here's what everyone should be talking about.

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Tom Brady had an up-and-down 2009 preseason debut on Thursday, but the important news for the New England Patriots and their fans is that he was on the field.

Sporting a now-familiar brace over his surgically-repaired left knee, just as he's done throughout New England's training camp, Brady played almost the entire first half of the Patriots' game at Philadelphia. He was on the field for four possessions.

New England went three-and-out its first time with the ball, but Brady marched them down the field for a touchdown in the Pats' following drive. Brady hit Randy Moss for 13 yards to start the possession, then capped it off six plays later with a four-yard TD strike to tight end Chris Baker.

The Jets have been in the market for a veteran blocking tight end for some time. They visited with such luminaries as Michael Gaines (who signed with the Bears on Monday) and Robert Royal, but missed out on both, which left them getting back together with a familiar friend. Bubba Franks has re-signed with the team, according to Dave Hutchinson of the Newark Star-Ledger.

The move is a bit of a surprise since Franks isn't really known for his blocking skills. At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, he's got the size, but he excelled as a red-zone option with the Packers, scoring 27 touchdowns from 2001-04. Injuries have limited him to just 16 games over the past two seasons, however, and he's only caught 24 passes in that time.

Tampa Bay has traded tight end Alex Smith to New England for an undisclosed draft pick in the 2010 draft. The Bucs had reportedly been looking to unload Smith ever since acquiring Kellen Winslow from the Browns at the end of February.

The Patriots weren't exactly bare at the tight end position before this move either. The Pats return Benjamin Watson and David Thomas, their two starters from last year, and signed former Jet Chris Baker to a free-agent deal.

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No team has been more active in free agency than the Broncos. They've signed 12 players, including wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who followed Josh McDaniels to Denver from New England.

And while adding Gaffney seems innocuous enough -- he's a role player and that's it -- apparently, the Patriots took umbrage at McDaniels pilfering from his former employer on the way out the door. So much so that, according to Brad Briggs' sources, they decided to send Matt Cassel to Kansas City instead of Denver, and created the whole Jay Cutler melodrama in the process. Good times.

The New England Patriots added a second new offensive player in free agency's first 12 hours when they signed former Jets tight end Chris Baker. Adam Schefter of the NFL Network reports that Baker was open to re-signing with the Jets, who cut Baker before he earned a $9 million roster bonus, but that the Patriots swooped in with an early and attractive offer.

The move continues the Jets' and Patriots' version of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. In both cases, players have jumped from one team to the other, keeping animosity high and adding depth to their two annual games. For these purposes, the Jets play the role of the pre-2004 Red Sox.

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Kellen Winslow has been a colossal bust at the tight end position this season in fantasy. Mostly, it's been due to injury issues, which we later found out was a staph infection and not any sort of crotchal inflammation. He had five catches for 64 yards last week against a tough Ravens defense.

This week, the Browns are set to face an absolutely terrible Broncos defense. As I noted in the wide receiver rankings, I expect Brady Quinn to heavily rely upon Winslow and Braylon Edwards in his first career start. There are only two tight ends I'd rather have this week, and they are facing off in the same game ...

1. Tony Gonzalez, at SD
2. Antonio Gates, vs. KC
3. Kellen Winslow, vs. DEN
4. Owen Daniels, vs. BAL
5. Visanthe Shiancoe, vs. GB

It's been well established that the New York Jets' front office and tight end Chris Baker aren't seeing eye to eye over everything from Baker's contract to his participation in off-season workouts to his absence from treatment sessions with the team's medical staff.

But The Jets Blog has the best example yet of how personal it's getting between Baker and the Jets' brass:

During minicamp, Baker, who wants a new contract, angered the organization by parking his red Bentley in the "Team President" parking spot and refused to move it.

I'm amazed Baker didn't get towed. In any event, seeing as the Jets just added their third new tight end of the off-season, the chances seem pretty good that he won't ever park in the team president's space -- or anywhere else at the team facilities -- again.

There's no end in sight for the bad feelings between the Jets and Chris Baker. The tight end claims the team promised him a new contract, the team claims they promised him nothing but that he'd be treated fairly and both sides are calcifying into intractable positions.

Baker skipped the voluntary workouts but showed up to last week's mandatory minicamp. He then claimed he tweaked his back during warmups. That meant he didn't take part in anything more strenuous than riding the stationary bike and ripping Jets management. Now the Jets have fired back via a $3,000 fine for missing an injury treatment session during minicamp.

Baker's agent, Jonathan Feinsod, was also Pete Kendall's agent during last year's version of this player-team squabble and called the fine petty. It's similar to when the team placed Kendall in the rookie dorm for training camp last year.

"Chris was fined for allegedly missing a treatment session, just like Pete Kendall allegedly was put in the rookie dorm," Feinsod said sarcastically.

It's pretty clear that the Jets have chosen Baker as their line in the sand against players wanting contract renegotiation. Baker's a fairly invisible cog in the Jets wheel, a role he's played well, but he isn't going to create a public outcry about the way he's being treated. With Kendall and Laveranues Coles, the team felt pressured to make a move one way or the other. That doesn't seem to be the case this time around.

Jets tight end Chris Baker is not happy with his contract and has even suggested he might not play for the team this year, and he sat out Friday's mandatory practice after saying he hurt his back during warmups.

NFL players put their bodies on the line 16 Sundays a year, and they justifiably feel it's an affront if someone accuses them of faking an injury. And yet ... Is it possible that maybe Baker didn't really hurt his back? He was asked that, and he pointed out that last year he toughed it out through a back injury, even taking painkilling injections so he could play in games after the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention:

"If anyone questions whether I want to be on the field, that's up to them," Baker said during another post-practice rip session. "I could've easily packed it in last year, but I didn't do that."

Although I basically feel that he's wrong in thinking he deserves more money, I'm prepared to give Baker the benefit of the doubt on this back injury. I wonder if the Jets' front office is.