COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 As I wrote for Fox Sports Radio New Jersey, 2024 was a year to remember.  It was a wild and woolly year, one that had both joy, sadness, and well misery all rolled into ball, and, you known what — sports-wise — we wouldn’t want to have it any other way.    From the Mets riding a the wave of Grimace and OMG all the way to the NLCS, to the Yankees return to the Fall Classic for the first time in 15 years, and of course the New York Liberty winning their first ever WNBA Finals title, there was a lot to smile about in 2024. Then there are the Jets and Giants. Woof.  Click the link here to check out our BOLDEST, and I mean BOLDEST predictions for the New Year possible.   

 The New York Jets are about to embark on their long awaited search for the 22nd Head Coach in franchise history, and by all indications, the Jets could be looking for a guy with experience.  Multiple reports confirmed Monday that the Jets are set to interview ex-Panthers and Washington Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera for the job.  Rivera hasn't coached in over a year since his departure from Washington following a 4-13 campaign in 2023.  Nicknamed "Riverboat Ron" for his willingness to think outside the box and take risks in-game, Rivera is an interesting candidate. He was a Coach of the Year winner, and took the Panthers to the Super Bowl about a decade ago. He's been the playoffs multiple times, including one playoff stop with Washington in his first year with the team.  Yet, overall, Rivera is under .500 as a coach. 102-103-2 to be exact.  His teams in Carolina were loaded talent-wise. Washington was a different animal entirely as he tried to guide the...

 It's the question Giants fans have been asking since Sunday's 45-33 win over the Indianapolis Colts, did Big Blue botch its chances of getting the top quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft.   No doubt the easiest route to securing that so-called "franchise QB" out of the draft is to have that top first overall pick in the draft, but as we all know, it generally doesn't guarantee anything.  Sure Sheduer Sanders and Cam Ward are both very talented players, but let's not act like the 2025 draft class at the quarterback position is like the 1983 draft class, or the 2004 draft class, or even the 2018 draft class.  There is no John Elway here. No Dan Marino. No Eli Manning. No Big Ben, and no Josh Allen.  And when you look at the teams around the Giants, like the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans there are no guarantees that any of these teams will select a quarterback in the draft. Meaning that there is a chance that either Sanders or...

 2024 was not a banner year for the Jets or Giants, and as a result both teams are facing a crossroads as 2025 begins. Here is our vlog on what we can expect from the Jets coaching search to the Giants decisions on the front office and quarterback. 

 Sean Manaea is coming back to Queens in 2025. What a gift for New York Mets fans just two days before Christmas. With the New York Yankees making one more after another in recent weeks since Juan Soto left the Bombers for the Amazin’s, many Mets’ fans have been wondering when their team would strike again. Well, they did in the wee-hours of Monday morning as the Mets and Manaea agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal. Bringing back Manaea was a no-brainer for the Mets. They took a flyer on him last season, and he turned out to be the staff ace of the club by season’s end. Manaea finished 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts. In the postseason Manaea made four starts, winning two of them.  Read More on Fox Sports New Jersey . 

As I wrote for Fox Sports New Jersey ... One thing is certain about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets they are the biggest conundrum in sports. The Jets thoroughly outplayed the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, didn’t punt once, and still found a way to l ose the game by ten points , 19-9. It was a comedy of errors that we have grown accustomed to from Gang Green all year. The kind of ‘Charlie Brown has the football pulled away from him’ kinda game Jets fans have seen for years.    There the Jets were marching down the length of the field, 99 yards in fact, on a crisp and efficient drive that culminated in a Rodgers touchdown strike to his buddy Davante Adams. 6-0 Gang Green. Then the bottom fell out. The Jets decided to get too bold with their strategy, going for it on fourth and a long four at their own 33, only to see it back-fire. The Rams eventually tied the game with Kyren Williams’s score. The Jets never learned from that lesson , going for it on fourt...

 Ok, Giants fans, we know how you feel. This season has been a total train wreck. Big Blue is 2-13 following a no-show 34-7 loss to Atlanta on Sunday. Fans are swarming social media, and even flying planes over MetLife Stadium calling for the ouster of Head Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen. But if there is one silver lining in this miserable season it is this: right now the Giants own the top pick in the NFL draft. That is because the Raiders (3-12) beat the Jaguars (3-12) on Sunday. The Panthers (4-11) also won in OT over Arizona. So the Giants are all alone atop the draft. Congratulations!  Granted there are still two games left in this season, and anything can happen, but for those who are on the infamous “tank” bandwagon, this is a day to crack a smile (potentially) at what could be coming in the future. It is expected that the Giants will draft a quarterback (they really have no choice) with their first pick in April’s draft, and...

 You can cross the Yankees off the list for former Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.  The Bronx Bombers came to terms on a one-year, $12.5 million deal that will solidify the Yankees need at the position for at least a year.    In his prime, Goldschmidt was one of the best hitters in baseball. Up until the past two seasons, Goldschmidt was a consist .290 to .300 hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals. However, the past two years since his NL MVP campaign in 2022, his numbers have dipped a bit.  He hit only 22 homers, and drove in 65 while hitting .245 last season for St. Louis at age 37.  What will it be this year? Perhaps the Yankees could platoon Goldschmidt with one of their younger players like Ben Rice. But at the very least, the Yankees added an experienced piece to a roster that looks even better than it did in the World Series.  Since losing out on Juan Soto the Yankees have been busy. They added: outfielder Cody Bellinger, closer Devin Williams, sta...

 An interesting story has been brewing for a while that former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel could be interested in taking the Jets head coaching job.  Colin Cowherd on his show spoke with NFL insider Jordan Schultz about it, and claims that Vrabel would take it depending on the GM. Both Schultz and Cowherd put ice water on the Athletic bombshell story about team dysfunction. "I spoke with Mike Vrabel, he would take the job depending on who the General Manager is," Cowherd said.  Schultz agreed, adding the Jets have been somewhat stable as compared to other franchises when it comes to giving coaches and GM's time to work with. Ex-GM Joe Douglas got six years. ex-Jets Head Coach got three-plus seasons.    Still this story really isn't new. It was first reported by Rich Cimini of ESPN back on December 4 that Vrabel would be interested in the Jets job depending on who the GM is. So is this really new that Cowherd is presenting to us?  Could Vrabel'...

As the Jets season is about to come to an end, and their search for a new General Manager and Head Coach is about to intensify, The Athletic has dropped another bombshell bringing new, disturbing allegations about the inner workings of Gang Green under owner Woody Johnson. The article paints a bleak picture of the Jets under Johnson, who allegedly gets too involved in the football business, and has been at odds with coaches, executives, and even players.  The article further claims that Johnson reneged on a trade with the Denver Broncos for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy because of the star receiver’s perceived “Madden rating,” among many other mind-boggling decisions within the confines of 1 Jets Drive.  The article further purports that Johnson involved his two teenage sons, Brick and Jack in football matters., which “clarified their father’s propensity for sharing posts from X.” In addition, Johnson’s call on the Jeudy trade may have been influenced by his son’s...

 Leave it to Bill Belihick to be the ultimate troll on his way out the door when it comes to the New York Jets.  Multiple reports have reported Saturday, starting with Dianna Russini of The Athletic , that representatives for the ex-Patriots head coach had reached out to the Jets to express interest in the Jets vacant head coaching position.  "A very small circle of people in the Jets building were made aware of his interest, though no meeting of formal conversation ever happened because the UNC opportunity popped up."  It's amazing how this now comes out a mere couple days after Belichick was introduced as head coach at the University of North Carolina.  This is not a dig at Russini, or any other reporter who has reported on this. They all got the information from a reliable source for sure.  From all indications it is true that Belichick and his team reached out. UStadium even tweeted out that  Belichick "reached out to multiple teams, even those wit...

The Yankees are not resting on their laurels in the post Juan Soto world. Ever since the Yanks lost out on Soto to the New York Mets, they have been red hot in pursuit of roster improvements.    The latest came Friday afternoon when the Yankees acquired Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams in a package deal that sent Nestor Cortes and minor league prospect Caleb Durbin to the Brew Crew.  The Yankees desperately need a closer. Last season Clay Holmes lost the job to Luke Weaver at midseason. While Weaver was great at times, the truth was, somehow, the Yankees managed to get to the Fall Classic without a true shutdown ace in the ninth inning.   They will have that now in Williams who owns a 1.83 career ERA and 68 saves. He was also the man that served up Pete Alonso's three-run homer in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card series between the Mets and Brewers that sent New York on its merry way to the NLDS.  It is a risky gamble for the Yankees. Williams is a free ag...

 Bill Belichick has sent a shock-wave through the football world, as he becomes the new Head Coach at the University of North Carolina.  The shock comes from the fact that Belichick will not jump back into the NFL after spending a year away from the game; instead he will jump into the ever increasingly complex world of College Football.  This should be interesting.    About a year ago at this time we saw Belichick get r ejected by the Atlanta Falcons for their head coaching vacancy. It was a stunner. Before Atlanta made its final decision, it appeared that Belichick was destined for the Falcons after meeting with Arthur Blank, but the front office had other ideas. They convinced Blank to look elsewhere.  The problem was the Falcons front office knew that if Belichick came aboard, they would all be looking over their shoulder.  When a team hires Bill Belichick, they get all of Bill Belichick: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  "... The Falcons real...

 Two days after striking out on Juan Soto, the Yankees responded by finding someone to rack up K's in former Atlanta Braves starter Max Fried. The 31-year old Fried, inked an eight-year, $218 million deal with New York, making him the highest paid left-handed starter in baseball history.  The deal includes a full no trade clause, and no deferred money.  While a starter wasn't exactly on the top of their needs for the 2025 season, we all know a team can never have enough pitching. Fried is as solid as they come, and was sought after by many clubs. With the Yankees he can slide right into the number two slot behind ace Gerrit Cole.  Fried is well accomplished in his career; a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner. Since 2020, he has posted the lowest ERA among pitchers with 500 innings to their name with a 2.18 ERA.  The Yankees are far from done of course.  They are heavily linked to Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, who is about the same ag...

 The New York Mets have won the Juan Soto sweepstakes.  The news became official just before 10 p.m. Sunday as New York Post columnist Jon Heyman broke the story that Soto, the games' most prized free agent slugger, had signed a record setting 15-year, $756 million contract with the Mets.  While that comes to $51 million annually, the contract will include plenty of deferrals , obviously. The terms of the deal at this moment are still not fully known.  What is obvious is that Mets owner Steve Cohen did something that no prior Mets ownership group could do and that is beat the Yankees to the punch. He was willing to go all in for the best player on the market and got him.  There was speculation as last as Saturday that the Mets and Yankees were competing for Soto with the Mets at $735 million, and the Yankees at $710 million. But according to the Post, the Yankees did come in at $760 million over 16 years, which more than doubled the money the Yankees gave Aaron ...

The Aaron Rodgers era in New York needs to come to an end.  There is no doubt that Rodgers is a first ballot Hall of Famer; one of the most gifted athletes of his generation. He will go down as one of the best to ever do it in the regular season. His arm talent was second to none, except for maybe Dan Marino or Brett Favre in the primes of their careers.  But with the Jets, it has been an all time disaster.  Aaron Rodgers looks for help. Getty Images Sunday's 26-21 Jets loss to the Seattle Seahawks only furthered the evidence that Rodgers marriage with the Jets has to come to an end.  Rodgers was inconsistent, and threw a horrible pick-six that flipped the game totally on its head.  The Jets had a chance to go up 28-7, but Rodgers threw a pass that ex-Jet defensive lineman Leonard Williams tipped into the air and picked off before rumbling down field for the six-points to make it 21-13 instead.  It was all Seattle after that.  The Jets never got close ...