COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The New York Mets essentially waved the white flag when they agreed to terms on a trade Saturday night with the Texas Rangers that sends starting pitcher Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers for No. 3 overall prospect Luisangel Acuna, in a move that sent shock waves through Major League Baseball. A day later, those shock waves can still be felt as questions abound about what will be next for the Mets.  There was plenty of drama on Saturday. Would Scherzer accept the trade? Would he wave his no trade clause?  The answer was 'yes' to both.  Moreover, he decided to opt-in to his 2024 player option, likely signaling he will end his career in Texas in 2024.  And in turn, the Mets have to pay down a majority of what is owned the former Cy Young Award winner. $35 million of the remaining $58.3 million remaining to be exact. The Rangers are on the hook for only $22 million.  The trade ends an up and down tenure for Scherzer which lasted only 1-1/2 seasons, certainly ...

 When asked Thursday afternoon about controversial comments Broncos head coach Sean Payton made about his football team, Jets head coach Robert Saleh didn't take the bait.  "I am not going to acknowledge Sean on that. He has been in the league a while; he can say whatever the hell he wants. I live by the saying if you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping. So hate away. Obviously we are doing something right, if we don't play you until week 5. There is a lot of crows pecking at our neck. But all you can do is spread your wings until those crows fall off."  Earlier in the day, Payton was quoted in USA Today blasting t he Jets for winning the off-season, and calling current Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was the Broncos head coach a year ago, as performing "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL."   Said Payton: "We're not doing any of that," he said alluding to the Jets Hard Knocks appearance. ...

 Aaron Rodgers gave the Jets a needed boost when he and the club agreed to a new two-year $75 million contract that will reduce his salary by $35 million, thus giving the Jets needed cap space to go ahead and add players the next two years.  The contract indicates that the future Hall of Famer intends to stay in New York more than one year, which is music to the ears of Jets fans everywhere.  Rodgers, whose initial contract with Green Bay was $110 million, before it was renegotiated down to $58 million to make the trade to New York happen, will receive a $35 million signing bonus and only $1.2 million in salary this year. He is due to make $38 million next year.  The Jets will also defer payments through 2027 to the quarterback.  With Rodgers now set contractually, rumors are heating up that the Jets are closing in on former Vikings running back Dalvin Cook.  Cook was a dynamic playmaker for the Vikings, averaging 4.7 yards per carry in his career there. H...

 Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas is now a very, very rich man.  The All-Pro tackle, who has been a solid foundation piece for Big Blue the past three seasons signed a record setting extension this week with the Giants. The contract is good for five years at $117.5 million.  $67 million of that contract is guaranteed over the lifetime of the contract setting a league record for an offensive lineman.  Thomas has emerged over the past few seasons as one of the game’s best-left tackles, earning All-Pro honors, starting 44 games, and two playoff games during that stretch.  He has protected the blindside of quarterback Daniel Jones, who is coming off a career year in his own right and helped to create lanes for running back Saquon Barkley. This signing means that the Giants have completed a very busy off-season of securing its core pieces. They inked Jones to four year, $160 million dollar deal earlier this off-season, and Dexter Lawrence to a four-year, $90 m...

 The New York Jets opened their training camp practices to the public for the first time on Saturday, and boy what a show Aaron Rodgers put on for the fans. He threw three touchdown passes and fans were chanting the future Hall of Famer's name throughout. It was a sight to behold. Here is vlog as I share the experience with you! 

 Give a lot of credit to Jets General Manager Joe Douglas.   A day after they were named to HBO's Hard Knocks, the Jets were able to complete their contract negotiation with defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, inking the Pro Bowler to a four-year, $96 million deal.   Williams is the second highest paid DT in the League on an annual salary behind the Rams' Aaron Donald.  This was a deal that had to get done. Williams wanted a long term deal, and was willing to hold out until he got one. With training camp a week away, and with HBO camera's a week away from making their way to Florham Park, the Jets got the deal done to limit and "distractions."  Williams was one of the best players in the league last season, a disruptive force that opponents had to account for with double-teams. For the most part those double teams didn't work as Williams plowed through offenses all season long.  Now the focus can go squarely to preparing for the 2023 season. The Jets ha...

 Saquon Barkley's future with the New York Giants is up in the air at this hour as he and the New York Giants are at a stalemate over his contract extension.  There is legit concern at this hour as the Giants and Barkley have until Monday at 4 p.m. to hammer out a deal. There is still time, but the clock is ticking.  According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio , the Giants offered Barkley $13 million a year, but the Pro Bowl running back wants $16 million annually.   Florio goes on to say that since the Giants inked quarterback Daniel Jones to a long term deal, "they have not to date been willing to put the $13 million per year offer back on the table for Barkley." The Giants franchise tagged Barkley in the spring which will pay him $14 million this season, but if Barkley feels he can't get the deal he wants, he has threatened to sit out the season.   In short, things are going to get really interesting in the next few days.  If Barkley indeed si...

 Light, Camera, and Action!  The New York Jets are returning to HBO's training camp mini-series Hard Knocks, even if they really wanted no part of it.  But, hey, here we are.  The NFL had the choice of four teams and they selected the Jets because, well, they made the biggest off-season splash of the year by trading for ex-Packers quarterback, four time League MVP, Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, that would certainly get a lot of attention.  The inevitable became reality on Wednesday morning, even though -- as was previously reported -- the Jets wanted no part of the series this summer.  It will be interesting to see how this affects the Jets own reality series that they shoot during the year called 1 Jets Drive. Would it be put on hold?  1 Jets Drive is an Emmy Award winning series the Jets have produced for the past five years. It is fantastic. That said, there is a tinge of self-awareness in the self-produced series. The Jets aren't going to show you everythin...

 Derek Jeter seems to be really taking to his new gig as analyst for Fox Sports' MLB coverage. Not only does he provide sound analysis and humor, but he is making bold proclamations as well.    During Fox's coverage of the 2023 MLB All-Star game, Jeter proclaimed that if the San Diego Padres are indeed out of contention, the Yankees should consider trading for Juan Soto.  Jeter's reason for such a bold move is the uncertainty of the health of Aaron Judge. The Yankees say Judge will be back this season, but who knows really?  Of course were the Yankees to make such a bold move they would have to give up the farm to get Soto who is not a free agent until 2025. 

 In the surprise move of the All-Star Break, the New York Yankees announced that former Cincinnati Reds slugger Sean Casey will become the new hitting instructor of the major league club. Casey agreed to take on the job through the end of the year, despite not having any coaching experience. The move comes 24 hours after the Yankees agreed to part ways with hitting coach Dillon Lawson who was only in his second season on the job as hitting coach.  While Casey may not have previous coaching experience he was a phenomenal hitter over a 13-year career that spanned five different organizations. Casey hit .302 with a .367 on base percentage in his career with 130 homers. He was a three-time All-Star with the Reds, and was the glue of their lineup in the late 90s/early 00s. As I wrote on Fox Sports New Jersey, this is an interesting hire. For starters, Casey has the strong connection to Aaron Boone, whom he was teammates with in Cincinnati from 1998 to 2003. Moreover he do...

 Carlos Rodon marked his debut in Yankees pinstripes by pitching well enough in his first regular season action since last September. But, it wasn't enough as the Yankees couldn't muster much offense, falling to the Chicago Cubs 3-0 . Rodon was out-dueled by ex-Yankees pitcher Jamison Tallion, who blanked the Yankees over eight stellar innings on the mound. Tallion held the Yanks to just one hit, a Gleyber Torres single in the bottom of the first inning. At one point he retired 13 consecutive batters before surrendering a walk to Billy McKinny in the fifth inning. The Yankees as a team, left two men on base, and didn't record a runner in scoring position. On the flip side, Rodon had his moments in his MLB season debut. He retired the first six Cubs to face him before Cody Bellinger launched a pitch into the right field bleachers that handed Chicago a 1-0 lead. While Rodon did well it wasn't enough.  The Yankees offense remains in a huge funk. They are 1-for-6 with RISP ...

 The New York Mets remain are getting busy on the trade circuit.  Days after Steve Cohen's press conference where he demanded that his players step up and play better, the Mets made a trade with the Seattle Mariners to acquire Trevor Gott and Chris Flexen for minor league reliever Zach Muckenhirn.   As soon as the deal was done, the Mets designated Flexen for assignment.    If the name Flexen sounds familiar, it should. He pitched for the Mets from 2017 to 2019, and was not impressive, posting an ERA over eight.  The Mets made this move as a cash dump to try get a reliever like Gott who has a 4.03 ERA this season and a 4.70 ERA in his career.  The Mets are not shy on making moves like this. They already traded Eduardo Escobar to the Angels in order to pay down that contract, and get two minor league pitchers in return.    Cohen made no qualms about that desire to pay down contracts in order to acquire better talent from teams if the Mets...