04/10 — The NFL's slogan for 2008 is "Believe In Now." The Jets, in their approach to this year's free agency and trading period, appear to have bought into that. But they also have expressed faith in the future with the signing of safety Kerry Rhodes to a contract extension.

The deal, finalized and announced by the team this afternoon, will keep Rhodes in green and white for years to come. And with the trade for NT Kris Jenkins and with LB David Harris entering the sophomore season of his higher education, it should keep the Jets' defense strong up the middle for the foreseeable future.

In a late afternoon conference call today, Rhodes said a weight was lifted from his back now that he has that job security that all NFL players seek. "Every player wants that and I was able to get it early," he said. "Once I actually signed it, it was a relief knowing that I’ll be here with the team I like and the guys that I’m familiar with.”

I don't have to tell Jets fans how important Kerry Rhodes is to the operation. You've all seen it and felt it in his three seasons, 48 games plus a playoff, all as a starter in the deep middle. He's become better as a ballhawk, better as a blitzer, better as a backfield tackler. He's one of the NFL's bright, young stars.

Perhaps that status should have been validated already, but the Pro Bowl is what it is, and soon he'll play in his first all-star game. If the voters (who are split into three blocs: fans, players and coaches) need help, here are some charts to quantify Rhodes' takeaway talent (interceptions plus fumble recoveries) on the Jets and his sack-ability among NFL defensive backs (both charts are for the past two regular seasons), two of the tools in his arsenal to watch for in the coming seasons:

The release on the Rhodes extension can be found on the newyorkjets.com news page, and early Friday you can read Eric Allen's report on Kerrys' conference call.