COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The Mets enter Opening Day ensnared in a royal mess thanks to Francisco Lindor's continued refusal to accept a contract extension from the organization in the form of 10-years and $325 million. Lindor is seeking a deal worth $385 million over 12 years, and word is both sides are not talking anymore.  It looks like the Mets are going into tomorrow's opener with their highly touted off-season acquisition with one foot already out the door. That is not a feeling the Mets, Steve Cohen, nor Mets fans wanted at this point.  It will be fascinating to see how Mets fans treat/react to Lindor throughout the year, starting with next week's home opener at Citi Field April 8 against Miami. In a poll we posted to Twitter, 39 percent said they would boo Lindor, while 10 percent said they would boo owner Steve Cohen. 51 percent said they would cheer.  This is going to turn ugly before it gets better. Check out our vlog about the Lindor mess and the start of the Mets season. 

 It's getting late early. In this case, the self-imposed deadline short stop Francisco Lindor put on the Mets to hammer out a long term deal is coming to a close, and nothing appears imminent, in spite of the Mets best efforts.   According to SNY's Andy Martino , the Mets offered Lindor a contract in the neighborhood of 10 years at $325 million. He rejected that offer. Martino added that was the Mets best and final offer to the former All Star.  Lindor meanwhile has countered with a request for a 12-year deal at $385 million. That would give him the second richest contract behind only Mike Trout who has a $426.5 million deal with the Angels.   Meanwhile, CBS's Jon Heyman is reporting that many people inside baseball feel that Lindor should accept the Mets offer. The offer is also about $100 million less than what he was offered in Cleveland a year ago, according to Heyman.    This comes just a day after Mets owner Steve Cohen wined and dined with Lindo...

 Mets owner Steve Cohen is no stranger to speaking his mind.   Remember this is the same guy who told the media at his introductory press conference that he wants to win a World Series within three to five years.   When the whole GameStop fiasco came to his door, he got into a tit for tat with Barstool Sports' own David Portnoy on Twitter. And, last week he appointed infamous former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as a member of the Mets Board of Directors.  Now Cohen is taking the Mets contract negotiations with shortstop Francisco Lindor to Twitter.  "What do you think Lindor will accept? I am going to crowdsource the answer."  When asked by a fan if a deal was imminent, Cohen said it was not.  Considering Lindor has stated consistently that he wants to be paid before Opening Day, which is 4 days away, tweeting, even light-heartily about the negotiation is not only bold, it could ultimately blow up in Cohen's face. If the Mets do not hand out...

There is an old saying about the definition of insanity.... It means doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.  Now, imagine being a Jets fans and hoping to get what many consider one of the top quarterback's in the draft.  Everywhere you turn the media praises the player, calling him a "generational" talent and "can't miss."  Fans on social media are convinced said quarterback is going to lead them to multiple Super Bowl championships before he ever gets drafted.  You look at his college stats and see he had one 'ok year' and one 'really good year.'  He's got a good arm.  People praise him for his football IQ.  And on his pro day he wows people with his arm strength on a rollout, where he has to set his feet and throw across his body downfield.  Sound familiar?  It should, because I am talking about Sam Darnold. Yeah, the same guy Jets fans can't wait to toss to the corner like a pair of worn sneaker...

 Newly minted Jets wide receiver Corey Davis may have slipped a bit of a hint regarding the future of Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.  In speaking with reporters, Davis said he signed with the Jets "with the belief Sam Darnold will be the team's quarterback in 2021" ( New York Post ).  As Davis is quoted as saying in the story by the New York Post, "That is my understanding. I'm coming in with the understanding that Sam is the guy."  Davis added that he is looking forward to working with Darnold, and called him a "great leader."  "I look forward to playing with him. He's a competitor. We can both learn from each other. He's young and we are both growing and we can grow together."  That's a hell of endorsement for a quarterback who might be out the door. It has been speculated by media pundits for weeks that Darnold would traded, and GM Joe Douglas has done little to fan the flames on the rumors, saying he would listen to calls o...

 The Giants have their big down field target. Big Blue has completed a deal with former Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay on a four-year $72 million contract according NFL insider Ian Rapopor t.  The deal could be a max of $76 million with $40 million guaranteed.    Even though the Giants had a round $8 million in cap space coming into free agency after reworking a few contracts, they were able to land their top target regardless.  The Giants targeted Golladay from the start. They desperately needed a deep threat to stretch the field for quarterback Daniel Jones. Now he has the big target, much like his predecessor Eli Manning once had with Plaxico Burress over a decade ago.  Golladay, who stands at 6-foot-4, played only five games last season due to a hip injury, catching 32 passes for 338 yards. The year before in 2019, Golladay broke out with 1,190 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns with the Lions. He had 1,063 yards receiving and five scores in ...

 RUTGERS 60 - CLEMSON 56 It was 30 years in the making, and for the loyal followers, boosters and alumni of Rutgers University it was well worth the wait. The Scarlett Knights stunned the Tigers of Clemson University 60-56 at the close of the first night of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament .  The Scarlett Knights will play Houston on Sunday. It is the first victory by a Rutgers men's team in the tournament in over 38 years.    Four players were in double figures for Rutgers on Friday night, including 13 points a piece from Geo Baker, Jacob Young and Caleb McConnell, who poured down 13 off the bench. Ron Harper Jr. dropped 10 points on the night for Rutgers.  The Scarlet Knights set the tone early when Baker nailed a three pointer to open the scoring at 3-0. From there on out it was a tit-for-tat between Rutgers and Clemson as the two schools traded the lead eight times in the first half.  Give Rutgers credit they hung in when things looked their bleakes...

 Remember that wonderful, warm feeling you felt earlier this winter when the Mets traded for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco?  Remember how good it felt? Well, one half of that equation is now out for the foreseeable future as starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco has been diagnosed with a hamstring tear, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.   According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, who tweeted out "Carrasco's hamstring has been classified as a high-grade tear, which is not good news. Probably looking at 6-8 weeks sidelined, minimum, according to a source."  This is a huge blow to both Carrasco and the Mets. New York was hoping Carrasco would slide into the number three spot in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman; instead the Mets have to hope that the likes of David Peterson, Joey Lucchesi and Jordan Yamamoto are ready to step and solidify the bottom half of the rotation. Carrasco had already spent a better part of Spring Training battling el...

 Rumors early Thursday indicated that the New York Jets were having "conversations" with former Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, but by the end of the day Thursday, Gang Green instead signed former Jaguars wide out Keelan Cole on a one-year $5.5 million deal.  Signing Cole doesn't necessarily mean that the Jets are out on the Schuster talks, but it does indicate that GM Joe Douglas is more than happy to go out and stock up on guys he deems were undervalued in free agency.  Unlike Schuster, Cole is a virtual unknown.  He was an undrafted rookie out of Kentucky Wesleyan in 2017, and hauled in 42 balls for 748 yards and three touchdowns. After two disappointing seasons in 2018 and 2019, Cole showed some slight improvement catching 55 passes for 642 yards and five touchdowns.  Let's be honest he is no JuJu Smith Schuster from the standpoint of on-field production. Should/or/had the Jets come to terms with Schuster on a deal, it would have given the Jets a...

 The market for Jets quarterback Sam Darnold continues to shrink. According to multiple reports, starting with ESPN's Dianna Russini and NFL Network's Kim Jones, the Washington Football Team has little interest in the Jets quarterback after they inked another ex-Jets QB in Ryan Fitzpatrick .  Russini tweeted out, "I spoke to a source in Washington about the possibility of the WFT trading with the Jets for QB Sam Darnold. I was simply told "don't waste your time."   In short, talk to the hand. The WFT is more than happy to roll the dice on Fitzpatrick and whatever quarterback they have behind him -- maybe even someone in the draft for that matter than roll a dice on Darnold. The only other team that has rumored to be interested in Darnold is the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks may be dealing their Super Bowl winning quarterback Russell Wilson, who has expressed frustration with the teams' personnel moves, particularly the lack of offensive line protection. ...

 Not much has gone right for the New York Giants up to this point in free agency, but on Tuesday they changed the narrative a bit when the inked one of their own, defensive lineman Leonard Williams on a three-year deal.  Williams, who was acquired by the Giants from the Jets in the midst of the 2019 season, flourished last year for Big Blue recording 11.5 sacks on 57 tackles. It was by far his best season as a professional. The Giants had franchise tagged Williams twice, including this off-season, but both sides were deep in negotiations on a long term deal.  Williams new contract will pay him upwards of $63 million with $45 million guaranteed. He would have made $19.5 million this season on the franchise tag.  The cap hit from Williams deal will be roughly $11 million, providing the Giants $8 million in cap space for this season according to ESPN.  As for Williams it's an incredible turnaround. He was a virtual non-factor with the Jets. Drafted in the first rou...

One thing Joe Douglas and David Gettleman have in common, they love shopping at the Five and Dime.  On the first day of free agency, both New York teams sat and watched as top free agents flew off the board, signing with other teams, while the Jets and Giants stood their ground settling instead for cheaper options.  The Giants only move was to sign Devonte Booker, a back-up running back to a two-year deal worth around $6 million. That was it for Big Blue thus far. Considering the Giants have only $913,913 in salary cap space (ranked 29th in the NFL) from which to work with, they are not going to make a lot of moves to begin with.  Losing Kevin Zietler to the Ravens on a 3-year deal with $16 million guarnateed doesn't help either. The Giants need help on both sides of the ball, especially at edge rusher, and offensive line and they failed to improve either on the first day.  Considering some of the big names that are now off the board, it's hard to envision the Giants...

 As free agency is about to kick off in the NFL, speculation about what the New York Jets may or may not do with their quarterback position is the question that seems to be the key to the off-season.  Gang Green owns the number two pick in the upcoming NFL draft; they have a ton of draft capital, and have been rumored to be one of the many destinations for disgruntled Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. However the chances that the Jets land Watson is not great -- even if they have the most to offer.  Jets General Manager Joe Douglas appears he wants to hold on to his picks, while teams like the Bears, Panthers and Broncos are rumored to be willing to give up just about anything for Watson.  That leaves the Jets with really one of two options. 1) Keep Sam Darnold and build around him, or 2) draft his replacement.  It appears more and more likely that the Jets will look to deal Darnold. Douglas said he would listen to calls, and according to SI's Albert Br...

 CBS Sports' Jon Heyman is reporting that extension talks between the Mets and shortstop Francisco Lindor are starting this week.  I n a Tweet posted Monday morning, Heyman said, "Francisco Lindor, Mets extension talks are expected to begin in earnest this week. Opening Day is at least a soft deadline, so figure about 24 days to get it done."  The Mets woud love to ink Lindor to a contract, considering they traded two major league ready players to get him this winter, and the fact that Lindor - a pending free agent - could command a hefty price tag on free agency, in a year where shortstops are going to be plentiful on the open market next year.  Lindor imposed an April 1 deadline to get a deal done before the regular season begins, and does not want negotiations to hover over the season.  The question will be what the contract will look like. Considering that Mookie Betts landed a $300-plus million deal from the Dodgers last year, and that Fernando Tatis Jr. in...

 New York Jets safety Marcus Maye will return for at least this upcoming season after the Jets slapped the franchise tag on him, guaranteeing he will make $10.5 million this season, if the two sides can't come to terms on a long term deal.  Both sides have been working on an extension, but General Manager Joe Douglas slapped the tag on Maye since the deadline to franchise players is 4 p.m. Tuesday.  The tag comes just a week after Maye's agent Erik Burkhardt slammed the Jets for not getting his client a new deal, claiming Gang Green "refuse(s) to take care of their best player, captain and team voted-MVP," according to ESPN. 

 Yankees manager Aaron Boone is taking an immediate leave of absence from the team to have a pacemaker installed. It is the second time the Yankees skipper has had heart surgery; he had open heart surgery back in 2009 according to ESPN.  According to reports, Boone said in a statement that he had been bothered by fatigue, low energy and shortness of breath. In three seasons at the helm, Boone is 236-148 as Yankees skipper.  Bench Coach Carlos Mendoza will take over as acting manager until Boone returns to the dugout.   "I'm in a great frame of mind because I know I'm in good hands with the doctors and medical staff here. ... They are confident that today's surgery will allow me to resume all of my usual professional and personal activities and afford me a positive long-term health prognosis without having to change anything about my way of life," Boone is quoted as saying in a story by ESPN.  The Yankees begin the 2021 regular season at home, April 1 ag...

 The mystery of the 17th regular season NFL game that will be added to the schedule next season is starting to come to light. We knew already that the NFL was planning to add the game due to revenue incentives, and that teams from the NFC East and AFC East would play one another depending upon where each team finished in the standings.  One thing that is still uncertain is whether this will happen or not. Chances are good that we will see a 17th game this season. 1) Because the owners want it so they can make more money, especially after COVID-19 kept fans away last fall, and 2) more television revenue. Money makes the world go 'round, ya know.  If and when the owners approve the 17th game, one would imagine the preseason will be cut down from four games to two or three contests. It's been a long standing belief that preseason games are a waste of time, and fans do not enjoy paying regular season prices for games that do not count and mean nothing to them, except for the ...

 Spring training is well underway in Major League Baseball, and with it hordes of questions surround the 2021 New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers had a fairly quiet off-season -- for them -- with only their re-signing of DJ LeMahieu proving to be the biggest signing of the winter. The question is, did the Yankees do enough?  The Yanks are relying on a makeshift rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole, as well as a lineup that is predominately right handed, with several guys coming off down years. Our thoughts on spring training 2021 thus far ...