Bubba Franks released

General Manager Mike Tannenbaum has announced that tight end Bubba Franks was released. Franks (6'6", 265), is a 10-year veteran and was originally signed by the Jets on Mar. 17, 2008. He caught six passes for 47 yards in eight games (four starts) during the 2008 season. He was re-signed by the Jets on May 12, 2009. This is somewhat surprising in that, while he was constantly battling injuries, without him on the roster, the team now has Dustin Keller and James Dearth as the only players with active game time at the position. Dearth has actually been more of a special teamer used for long snaps. The other two TE's on the roster are rookies J'nathan Bullock (6'5", 240) and Jack Simmons (6'4", 246). DE Kareem Brown (6'4", 260) also got some work at TE during OTA's. I suspect that Brown is way ahead of the curve with the move. At least from the blocking side of things. From a report in the OTA's his hands weren't the best. If he makes the cuts as a TE, he will likely be used in big body short yardage situations. Bullock is a player who was a basketball star in college and hasn't played football since high school. He showed some promise in OTA's with his size and strength. He is comparable to Antonio Gates. Gary Waters was the coach at Cleveland State and also coached Gates at Kent state around seven years ago. So I am not jsut pulling this out of thin air. Bullock has experience working with Waters and seems to be adapting quite nice. Simmons was a three year starter in Minnesota who as an unsigned tryout player. He impressed Ryan in OTA's with his footwork and seemingly caught everything thrown his way. He finished his college career with 73 receptions for 762 yards and three touchdowns. This appears to be a year where we will need a surprise out of someone at TE to step up and make a lot of pancake blocks. I really miss Chris Baker at this point. Any catches made on top of that are all gravy.