If Herm Edwards Wants to Leave ... Let Him

The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly interested in hiring current Jets coach Herm Edwards to take over for the retiring Dick Vermeil. One problem -- Edwards still has two years left on his contract with the New York Jets.

To his credit, Edwards had the Jets playing hard right to the end of the season ... even when it was costing them a shot at Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Herm Edwards is not a special coach. Good motivator. Terrible game coach. Good results when Chad Pennington is healthy and Curtis Martin is productive. Terrible results when the Chad/Curtis combo is not available to him.

Edwards says he wants to stay with the Jets. Don’t believe it. Edwards wants a raise and an extension ... from whoever is willing to give it to him. And Jets owner Woody Johnson would be foolish to give Edwards either after a 4-12 season.

Jets fans should prepare themselves for a new coach. If Edwards was committed to remaining the head coach of the Jets, then all the speculation over him leaving for Kansas City would have already been silenced. No one benefits when the head coach wants to be somewhere else ... just ask any owner that has continued to sign paychecks for Bill Parcells or Larry Brown while they were busy lining up their next jobs.

If Edwards really wants to leave, then let him ... but accept nothing less than a first-round draft pick as compensation. The Chiefs would be foolish to offer a first-round pick for Herm Edwards. The Jets would be even more foolish to turn it down.