Tannenbaum, who was relieved of his duties as the New York Jets' general manager following the team's dismal 2012 campaign, hit up Super Bowl Radio Row Tuesday during media day for the NFL's season finale. Not only did he say he was "excited" about the future of his former team, but he referred to himself as an "Idzik fan," via Conor Orr of the Newark Star-Ledger.
John Idzik, of course, was recently named the Jets' new general manager.
"I’ve known John for a long time," Tannenbaum told ESPNNewYork.com. "He’s really smart. He’s really thorough. I’m sure he’s going to take the plans that were in place, tweak them and put his thoughts on it. I think the future for the team is really bright."
The former Jets executive spent 16 seasons with the club, seven calling the shots as the GM. During that time, he made some really good moves -- namely drafting stud offensive linemen Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson in 2006 before acquiring star cornerback Darrelle Revis in 2007.
He also did some pretty stellar work in putting together the 2010 All-Star free agent team (Santonio Holmes, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor, Antonio Cromartie) while getting Revis to return to camp during a holdout.
However, Tannenbaum made just as many, if not more, extremely questionable decisions, admittedly birthing the Tim Tebow debacle in New York, forcing Brett Favre down Eric Mangini's throat and drafting busts of the Vernon Gholston variety.
He was also responsible for putting the Jets in their current salary cap corner by giving team-crippling contracts to aging and declining veterans out of free agency instead of building through the draft.
All that aside, Tannenbaum called Idzik to congratulate him on his new job and expects Idzik to get things headed in the right direction, and Tannenbaum is "excited" to see it. He's also excited to see what his future holds.
"I feel really good about my future," he said. "This has given me a chance to take a half-step back and look up, and I’m excited about the future. Being there so long, a piece of me will always be a Jet."
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