FanHouse LeonWashington

Back in June, before we knew that Rex Ryan would fix what Eric Mangini broke or that the Dolphins would return to their pre-Tuna form, the long-distance gum-flapping between Ryan and Miami's Channing Crowder was just that. A summertime diversion between an unproven head coach and a chatty linebacker.

Now, four months later, the AFC East division rivals will finally face off, and Ryan sounds like he has gained some perspective. Crowder, however, is a different story.

"I think the thing with Channing Crowder, if I had to do one thing over, that would probably be it," Ryan said in a conference call earlier this week, "because clearly I was joking about the whole thing, which I had done before in the past in Baltimore with Chad Johnson [Ochocinco] and with some other guys."

With the announcement earlier Wednesday morning that Braylon Edwards had been traded to the New York Jets, we figured we'd fire up a mini-version of the value machine. We'll take a look at the shift in value for all fantasy relevant players on both the Jets and Braylon's former team, the Cleveland Browns, who is effected.

Braylon Edwards - Tough choice here (please note sarcasm). It wasn't possible for his value to fall any further. I do think this trade really helps him, due to his attitude. He's a selfish player who wants to be in the spotlight and there's no bigger spotlight than New York. I believe he falls in line due to the fact that he's out of Cleveland, in New York and playing for a winning team. We'll place him in WR3 territory for now, with the chance to move up to WR2 by season's end.

For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Offense in transition. With a new head coach along with rookies at quarterback and time-sharing running back, the best work of the Jets' offense will be in 2010 and beyond. They'll look to win with defense and taking care of the football in 2009, and you know that doesn't bode well when it comes to garnering massive amounts of fantasy points.

There are finds to be had on any team, but no Jets should be taken in the first three rounds of your draft -- and that's being conservative.

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Among the most tired arguments against fantasy football are that people playing it need to "get a girlfriend" or "get a life." First of all, as an avid fantasy football player, I'd like to point out that my wife probably wouldn't appreciate it if I got a girlfriend. Secondly, when seven well-known NFL players play, how can you really question if it's "cool" while comparing it to Dungeons and Dragons? Just get over yourself and try it before knocking it. It's fun.

Mini-rant aside, NFLplayers.com held an 8-team draft last week, pitting Leon Washington, Roy Williams (Cowboys WR), Ronnie Brown, Robbie Gould, Matt Forte, Cato June and DeAngelo Williams against one lucky fan. Let's see how they did.

He missed some of the team's voluntary OTA workouts, but Jets running back Leon Washington is in New Jersey for mandatory minicamp even though he's still looking for a contract extension. Washington spoke to reporters in Florham Park on Tuesday and hinted that he might hold out of training camp next month if no deal is reached before then.

"No decision for training camp," Washington said, according to a transcript of his interview provided by the Jets' media relations department. "I will wait until that time comes around and we will see how everything goes. I have to talk to my agent and the Jets but there is no decision yet. I think it's important for me to be at training camp, and hopefully I can be there."

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Thomas Jones showed up Wednesday and worked out for two days with the rest of the Jets. He wore a tight white T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and everybody noticed.

"I said, 'Welcome back, Eddie George,'" guard Damien Woody joked, "because he's just so big. He looks like he's been down in South Beach pumping a bunch of iron."

Jones had been skipping the voluntary portion of the Jets' off-season workout program because he wants the team to restructure his contract. But after his agent met with Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum last week at the owners' meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Jones decided to reverse course and join the team for this week's optional OTAs. The Jets, who have not shown any interest in restructuring Jones' deal, are hoping the change of heart his permanent.

As we all know from Drew Rosenhaus' Twitter feed, grumpy Jets running back Thomas Jones plans to report to the team's voluntary workouts this week after skipping them all so far this off-season because he doesn't like his contract anymore. But according to Rich Cimini in the New York Daily News, Jones' change of heart doesn't mean the Jets have had one on their end.

The Jets have been playing hardball with Jones, going so far as to draft Iowa RB Shonn Greene in the third round of last month's draft as a way of telling Jones he could be replaced. When Rosenhaus met with Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum earlier this week at the NFL owners' meetings in Fort Lauderdale, it doesn't appear as if he got any satisfaction, according to Cimini:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Despite numerous twitter updates that indicate he's in the building, I have been unable to locate agent Drew Rosenhaus. It appears, however, that Mike Tannenbaum was more successful.

Tannenbaum, the Jets' GM, is here at the meetings along with Jets owner Woody Johnson. One of Rosenhaus' clients is Jets running back Thomas Jones, who has been skipping the team's voluntary workouts this spring due to dissatisfaction with his contract. But Rosenhaus' latest "tweet" gives a strong indication that he met with Tannenbaum Tuesday and the situation has been addressed:

Sure, it may be a little early for most normal people to start thinking fantasy football draft, but for us derelict diehards, keeping abreast on the developments of the offseason can provide peace of mind and an advantage in watching things progress as we head into the summer. While the news coming out of the NFL these days is far overshadowed by two wildly entertaining playoff series, there are some pretty critical players to keep an eye on.

A small handful of elite fantasy stars are in the midst of a serious value conundrum. On one hand, they provide an opportunity to nab otherwise surefire first-rounders on the cheap, but not without taking on big-time risk. It is question of "how far do we let them drop before it is critical to pull the trigger?"