It’s essentially now or never for receiver Braylon Edwards.

The Jets re-signed the former first round pick to a one-year, $6.1 million contract extension on Monday. The tender is a 20% raise on the receiver’s 2009 salary, which is hefty price considering that he finished with only 45 catches for 680 yards and four touchdowns.

There are several receivers that would kill to be in the spot Edwards is in now. In fact, up until he was traded to Baltimore this past offseason, Anquan Boldin was the poster child for receivers that want their own spotlight. He wanted to be paid and treated like a No. 1 in some team’s offense and now he finally has the opportunity. Edwards was given the opportunity to be the guy as soon as he was drafted in Cleveland and has yet to make the most of it.

Edwards essentially has one year to prove that he can be Mark Sanchez’s go-to or else the Jets will probably allow the receiver walk in 2011. The team showed some faith in him by signing him to the $6 million tender, so now it’s up to him to finally prove to himself and those around him that he isn’t just an overpaid route runner.

Personally, I think we’ve already seen the best that Edwards has to offer. He had one great year in Cleveland and I’m willing to bet that he spends his remaining years in the league never coming close to those 2007 numbers again. Does he have the talent? Absolutely. He has the size and speed to be an elite receiver in the league, but he has never learned to catch the ball with his hands. More times than not, he lets the ball get into his body, which is why he has so many drops. That’s been his biggest problem since his days in Ann Arbor and outside of the one year, he has never overcome that.

Maybe he’ll prove me wrong, but something tells me he won’t.

While it’s true that Edwards only posted 45-680-4 last year, 35-541-4 came with the Jets. Throw in the 6-156-1 that Edwards produced in the postseason, he averaged 2.7-46-0.33 in 15 games with the Jets. That translates to about 43-736-5 over the course of a full season. Last year, those would have been WR36-type numbers.

What does this mean for 2010? Well, there are a few factors working in Edwards’ favor: 1) he’ll has almost a full year under his belt in the Jets’ offense, 2) Mark Sanchez is one year wiser, and 3) he’s in a contract year again. I would never expect Edwards to have another top 5 season like he did in 2007, but with all of these factors to consider, a top 20 finish certainly isn’t out of reach. He would only need to score an additional 50 points to reach that goal, and 15 catches for 250 yards and two more TD would get him there. I’d consider drafting Edwards after 25 or 30 WRs are off the board.

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