Hatchet man?

It's no secret that Ron Borges isn't a big fan of Bill Belichick. But apparently, he doesn't like anyone remotely affiliated with him either. His Football Notes column from the Globe this weekend takes a few swipes at new Jets head coach Eric Mangini and the man who hired him, GM Mike Tannenbaum. (Tannenbaum was originally hired by the Jets under the Bill Parcells regime, reportedly on Bill Belichick's recommendation.)

Borges begins with a nice setup line about "local boy makes good", as Tannenbaum hails from Needham. But he immediately segways into rumor mongering and attacks on Tannenbaum:

[Tannenbaum's appointment] was a mixed blessing because along with it came suspicion in some NFL corners about how his final step was taken... Jets owner Woody Johnson announced he was moving the soon-to-be-37 Tannenbaum ahead of the last in a long list of mentors who had nurtured his development, 50-year-old general manager Terry Bradway.

At least Borges had the decency to call up Tannenbaum and get his side of the "story". He prefaces Tannenbaum's remarks by saying he "always seemed [like] an oasis of conscience in a cutthroat business." I guess Borges means until all this came about.

''I can't worry about what the perception may be," Tannenbaum said. ''I'm not perfect, but people who know me know I wouldn't be involved in something like that. Terry and I have a great relationship. He allowed me to broaden my responsibilities under him. Terry's a unique guy who loved working on the draft and scouting. He didn't like some of the other things that go with being a GM. I think he's relieved."

Gee, if only that were true. Wonder what Bradway has to say about it?

Bradway acknowledges that he never was totally comfortable wearing all the hats of a general manager and that the promotion of Tannenbaum was a ''mutual" agreement.

Okay, let me see if I have this straight. Borges cites anonymous sources saying Tannenbaum stuck a shiv in Bradway's back, but when he speaks to both of the principals, they deny it. But the Globe sees fit to print these rumors, even though none of the rumor-mongers will go on the record? Could it get any worse?

''The kids pulled off a palace coup," said an AFC front office executive. ''Tannenbaum was close to the owner and to Mangini. Mangini came in and immediately stepped on Bradway when he hired [Brian] Schottenheimer [as his 32-year-old offensive coordinator] without consultation.''They're all bright guys, but they're ruthless guys. Johnson has no idea if any of them can do the job. Mangini hasn't ever been the boss of anything, Schottenheimer hasn't ever coordinated a lunch order, and Tannenbaum likes to make believe he's a football guy but he isn't. That's the first thing they have to do now. Hire a football guy."

Ah, so now it all becomes clear. The rumors about Bradway are just a cheap setup for the old "they're not football guys" argument. Apparently, Borges and some NFL people feel a little threatened by the young turks. Although Borges goes on to praise Tannenbaum's work ethic and track record, the thrust of the argument is that since he's a lawyer by training and a salary cap specialist, he's in over his head. As if somehow managing the economic part of the game isn't essential to the duties of a modern GM? Hasn't Borges learned anything from the last 10 years of the modern NFL? Apparently not. I'm not saying that Tannenbaum will automatically be a winner, nor Mangini for that matter. But how many coaches and GMs mold Super Bowl winners? Very, very few. So the Jets decided to go in a slightly different direction instead of the old tried and true retreads who probably wouldn't have won anything anyway? Is that really such a risk? What would you have them do, hire Tom Donahoe who just ran the Bills into the ground? Yuck. I'll take my chances with the young guys.

By the way, Borges essentially fesses up to his not-so-hidden agenda little later in the Notes column. His first entry in the Etc. portion:

Not everyone around the NFL is excited about the ascendancy of guys like Mike Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini. One veteran NFC personnel man said, ''Cap guys are running too many teams now. They talk to you like you don't know what you're doing. I can still remember when the guys in charge of personnel actually knew a football player when they saw one. Now they look at them and all they see are dollar signs. One of these days, these owners will see the teams that are winning do it with football guys making the football decisions."

Again with the anonymous cheap shots? And, Ron, didn't you just make that argument two articles ago?