Braylon Edwards

As you probably know by now, Braylon Edwards of the New York Jets was arrested earlier this week for blowing twice the legal limit for blood-alcohol level while driving in the early morning. This is a bad thing all around for the Jets, as they have been subject of critcism from around the world for recently treating a female reporter disrespectfully. They made inappropriate comments and have faced a lot of negative media attention for their childlike behavior. But just as that ordeal seemed to have wandered from the minds of many, Braylon had to drive drunk.

The biggest issue with this is not just that a grown man being paid millions was spending his time getting drunk into the night during the week. The problem is that he was driving extremely drunk. And what makes matters seemingly exponentially worse is that he is a part of a team that has a service in place for those types of things. That's right, the New York Jets have a team program put in place that is designed so that a player can call for a ride when he needs one - especially when that player is really drunk.

Now, the Jets are obviously very mad at Braylon for not only his actions but probably even more so for his timing. They have fielded a lot of questions about the team's maturity and Edwards has not helped the situation. That being said, the Jets would love to slap Edwards with a large punishment.

Or at least that is what they should do. But they can't give Edwards a very large punishment due to the CBA. If they hit Edwards with a suspension, they will be in violation of the CBA and will be subsequently hit with a fine. If they keep Edwards active and refuse to play him, that could also be seen as a punishment, resulting in a team fine.

I'm not expecting or even suggesting that the Jets take a fine to make an example of Edwards. But they have announced that their version of a punishment without violating the CBA is not starting Edwards and sitting him for the entire first quarter. I agree with their punishment. It will allow them to keep the money they would lose from a fine while showing Edwards what's up. But I think they need to take it the whole nine yards. Sit Edwards for a quarter, then don't play him for a large amount of plays. He should not be out on the field frequently even after the first quarter. And to make a real statement, they need to leave football out of it. If, for example, they are down 21-0 going into the first quarter, they would be wise to continue to play Edwards infrequently. The team needs to learn a lesson and Edwards is the perfect person to make an example of. But if they are down 21-0 and then throw Edwards in on every play while giving him 900 targets and throwing to him often, they are essentially doing just as wrong as Edwards was.

The Jets have an opportunity to teach a man a lesson, along with their whole team. Here's hoping they make the right decision.

We'll find out in about 20 minutes.