Vinny Likely To Jet Away By Randy Lange Bergen Record 5/28/04 Kurt Warner visits, Kerry Collins leaves. Any number of NFL quarterbacks have been playing May musical chairs. And Vinny Testaverde can only watch the passing parade from the gym in his home on Long Island's North Shore. He's involved in another game these days: limboing into June. The assumption is that next week the Jets will release the venerable QB and he will move on to his last stop in the NFL. Presumably, that would be with Bill Parcells' Dallas Cowboys, although league sources say he may wind up with Bill Belichick's Super Bowl champion Patriots. But no one is confirming anything. Testaverde has declined all interview requests until after he becomes a free agent. Mike Azzarelli, his agent, is saying little. And the Jets have had no official comment. To show the state of the situation, coach Herman Edwards said at the minicamp that concluded early this month: "Vinny hasn't made a decision about what he wants to do. When he does, he'll tell us." Yet Azzarelli this week said: "Until we've been informed by the Jets that he's being released, I just wouldn't be able to comment on anything." Who's making this decision, anyway? The first move officially belongs to the Jets. After signing him to a five-year extension in April 2002, they have held onto him this off-season because beginning June 2, they can split his cost against their salary cap into a $3.5 million hit this year and $4 million next year, instead of $7.5 million this year. Also, by keeping him under contract, they covered themselves in the event of a minicamp injury to Chad Pennington or his backups, Brooks Bollinger and Ricky Ray. They have also protected an asset, although as one agent said, "I suppose everybody's got trade value, but I would think Vinny's would be limited." Still, by not extending a minicamp invitation, they clearly signaled their intentions to part ways with Testaverde, who led Parcells' 1998 Jets to within a half of Super Bowl XXXIII. And Testaverde has clearly signaled his intentions to part ways with the Jets, since they now consider him only a No. 3 quarterback. The Jets could hold him into training camp, as further QB insurance and possibly to keep him from prematurely helping their AFC East rivals the Patriots. But league sources believe the team will not stand in his way no matter what he wants to do and will release him next week. And Testaverde would belatedly enter the market looking for an employer offering him a chance to start. His job hunt hasn't been helped by the Jets preventing him from talking to other teams, a courtesy that, for example, the Rams extended to Warner. But all along, the Cowboys have loomed in the background. Parcells has a depth chart of Quincy Carter (shaky as last year's starter), Drew Henson (inexperienced post-baseball), and Chad Hutchinson (who just injured his throwing shoulder in NFL Europe). Belichick, who brought Testaverde from Tampa Bay to Cleveland in 1993, also is said to be interested. Tom Brady is the Pats' starter, of course, but his backups are Rohan Davey (invisible until lighting it up this season for the World Bowl-bound Berlin Thunder) and Kliff Kingsbury. An NFL source said Testaverde would probably favor Dallas in such a scenario. "I would be surprised" if he chose the Patriots over the Cowboys, the source said. "Not shocked, but surprised." Azzarelli said retirement also remains an option, although not because Testaverde isn't physically ready for the rigors of his 18th NFL season. "Vinny's never not worked out," the agent said. "He's just keeping himself in shape, which he'd be doing if he was retired or not retired." Unfortunately for "Vinny from Elmont," he's never been a perfect fit in coordinator Paul Hackett's West Coast offense. Hackett kept him on a tight leash in the 2001 playoff season, and the past two seasons the Jets got off to September starts of 1-3 and 0-4 under Testaverde before Pennington took the reins. As Jets' general manager Terry Bradway said back at the 2002 signing: "There's no timetable with Vinny. If he's playing well and we're winning, he's our starter." Now there is a timetable, and it's for the end of Testaverde's days as a Jet.