04/25 — The smart money was on Dewayne Robertson being an ex-Jet before the start of the 2008 season.

Both head coach Eric Mangini and GM Mike Tannenbaum said recently that D-Rob was still on the team and could be on the Jets' opening-day roster. But one suspected that with the arrival of DT Kris Jenkins in trade from Carolina and the mature presences of Shaun Ellis and Kenyon Coleman, it was a matter of time before Robertson, the fourth pick of the 2003 draft as a junior-eligible out of Kentucky, would be trading in his green and white.

Say what you want about Robertson — and many fans and some talking heads were not fans. But I know many on the Jets who thought highly of No. 63's presence in the middle of the D-line.

And apparently they weren't the only NFL personnel people who felt that way, since Robertson had been linked in trade rumors, for whatever return, with Cincinnati, Philadelphia and finally with Denver, which sent the Jets an undisclosed draft choice that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said is a conditional 2009 pick.

Robertson's impact wasn't in gaudy numbers but in the jolt he often gave centers and guards, in the blocking schemes he disrupted.

He had several games that stand out for me. He showed up in the 2004 AFC Wild Card Game at San Diego with six tackles, including two behind the line of LaDainian Tomlinson, plus he drew a holding penalty. In the 2005 home game against Tampa Bay he totaled a career-high nine solo tackles that included two sacks and a tackle for loss.

And last year vs. Pittsburgh, he may have been his most visible with 2.5 sacks of Big Ben Roethlisberger and a tackle of Willie Parker behind the line.

Robertson could be prickly with reporters, no doubt because he had grown tired of hearing questions about struggling to perform at fourth-pick-of-the-draft levels, but he could also be engaging and introspective, as he was when I talked with him last August about the difficulties of life as a two-gapping 3-4 nose.

"I don't get into what people expect, as long as I'm doing my job and what's expected of me," he said. "Nose is not that difficult — keep the guy off the linebacker. It's [tough] sometimes when you've got the guard crashing down on you, you get wham-blocked and all that. But it's a great position. I love it. I've learned a lot from playing it."

He also stressed how his priorities — his weight and conditioning — had changed over the years.

"I'm glad I came into camp in shape," he said. "That's big, because as a younger player I used to come in and try to get in shape during camp. But you know, as I got older, the last two years, I came to camp pretty much in pretty good shape."

However Robertson's Jets career is evaluated, he never complained, played hard, had a yellow-flag surplus in his two seasons under Mangini (no penalties committed, six forced), unofficially played in close to 80 percent of the defensive snaps in 2006-07, and missed only three games in five years. As with the trade of Jonathan Vilma to New Orleans, this swap should be good for all three sides — the Jets, the Broncs and D-Rob.

Robertson may be 2,000 miles away now, but Jets fans will still hear about how he's faring in his new orange, navy and white uni at least once. The Broncos come to the Meadowlands on Nov. 30, and depending on where he lines up, he could be going up against new Jets LG Alan Faneca.

Here are some regular-season numbers on Robertson's Jets career (TFLNG–Tackles for Loss/No Gain, PC–Penalties Committed, PF–Penalties Forced):