Jets Trade Kerry Rhodes to Arizona Cardinals

On Friday, Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said the Jets would pay a $2 million roster bonus next week to keep safety Kerry Rhodes on the team. Then he uttered the key words: “unless something happens.”

Something happened. On Saturday night, the Jets agreed in principle to trade Rhodes to the Arizona Cardinals, who needed a safety to fill the hole left by the departure of the Pro Bowler Antrel Rolle for the Giants. The Jets will receive a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft and a seventh-rounder in 2011.

Rhodes (6 feet 3 inches, 209 pounds) is bigger than Rolle (6 feet, 202), but is not a good tackler and struggles in coverage. Rolle went to the Pro Bowl last season, with 4 interceptions, 8 passes defended and 71 tackles. Arizona’s new defensive backs coach is the former Jets assistant Donnie Henderson, who coached under Herman Edwards.

“We all know that the safety position was a hole we needed to fill,” Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt said in a statement released by the team. “To be able to do that so quickly and with a proven starter off the N.F.L.’s No. 1 defense is a tremendous positive for our football team. Kerry has the experience and ability to step in right away. He fits a lot of the things that we do defensively, and the prospect of having him alongside a perennial All-Pro like Adrian Wilson is very exciting.”

The Cardinals now have a towering pair of safeties; Rhodes and Adrian Wilson are 6-3.

Despite Tannenbaum’s assurances, Rhodes’s exit was not a surprise. Last season, he clashed with Rex Ryan’s coaching staff, lost his starting job (and regained it), and took to Twitter to say that he thought he would be wanted elsewhere.

Rhodes was right. He performed poorly at the start of the season, but seemed to improve after his benching, finishing with three interceptions. Rhodes, the Jets’ fourth-round pick in 2005, had his best seasons in 2006 and 2007, when he had a total of nine interceptions and five forced fumbles.

The Jets filled a huge need when they traded for cornerback Antonio Cromartie on Thursday night, but now they have a hole at safety. Jim Leonhard is one starter. But Eric Smith, who would take Rhodes’s place, is a restricted free agent.