According to Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News, the Jets are exploring a trade for a receiver and Brandon Marshall is the biggest name on their radar.

If the Jets do add a veteran, it probably won’t be a free agent such as Marvin Harrison.

Another name to watch is the Chiefs’ Dwayne Bowe, a former first-round pick. He caught 86 balls for 1,022 yards on an awful team last season, but he’s had a difficult transition under new coach Todd Haley. He may have played his way out of the doghouse with five catches in the preseason opener, but the Chiefs are rebuilding and will move a player if he doesn’t fit their long-term plans.

The Giants are another team that bears watching. They have a glut of receivers, and the Jets are wondering if one, perhaps Sinorice Moss, will become available.

The Jets are awfully inexperienced at receiver so it makes sense that they would be interested in trading for one. But they could have a hard time finding a trade partner, especially as the regular season draws closer.

The Broncos have already stated that Marshall isn’t available, but if he continues to make a stink about his contract they could wind up dealing him and picking up yet another first round pick for 2010. (They already acquired a first round pick for next year in the Jay Cutler trade.)

Even though Bowe may be in Haley’s doghouse, he’s a key piece to an improving young offense in Kansas City. So it’s highly doubtful that Scott Pioli would make him available. Still, the Jets’ receiver situation will be intriguing to follow over the next week or so.

According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, there’s an overwhelming notion that Jet players are happy that Rex Ryan is now their head coach, and not Eric Mangini.

As for the Jets, the mantra uttered in every corner of their camp is that the relaxed Ryan “treats us like men,” with the implication that the rigid Mangini didn’t.

Without naming Mangini, specifically, guard Damien Woody said not being afforded that respect “is almost degrading.”

“Here I am 31 years old, I’ve got my own kids, and I’m married, and here’s someone that’s not that much older than me — or whatever the case may be — telling me what I can and can’t do,” Woody said. “It’s so regimented where the game is just not a game anymore. It’s not fun. Even when you win it’s not fun.”

Mangini seems to be a wanna be Bill Belichick in the way he runs his team, which is understandable given that Mangini used to work under Belichick in New England. And who can blame Mangini if he did want to run his team that way given how many Super Bowls Belichick has won.

That said, there’s an underlining notion that Mangini doesn’t treat his players with enough respect. Woody isn’t the only one who has griped about Mangini’s standoffish attitude, as Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rodgers also had a run-in with the head coach when Manigini was hired in Cleveland.

Then again, maybe the players doing the griping are the ones who can’t handle a head coach who doesn’t give them cake and ice cream after every practice. After all, Romeo Crennel was a nice guy and he didn’t win. Ultimately, players will respect their head coach if his process works. Mangini’s process didn’t work the past couple years in New York, so players turned on him and his approach to coaching.

The same will happen to Ryan if he doesn’t prove that he can win.

The National Football Post is reporting that the Jets are gauging interest in running back Thomas Jones, but the Newark Star-Ledger and New York Daily News dispute that report.

A rumor on nationalfootballpost.com that the Jets are shopping veteran running back Thomas Jones to an NFC West team is not true, according to a person with knowledge of the club’s plans. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.

Jones, the defending AFC rushing champ, is unhappy with his contract and missed most of the team’s offseason workouts. He’s scheduled to earn $900,000 this season in the third year of a four-year, $20 million contract.

The Jets seem content with going into the season with Jones, Leon Washington and Shonn Greene on their depth chart and seeing who emerges from the pile. Jones doesn’t become a free agent until 2011, so it’ll be interesting to see what the Jets do after the season if Greene (who is a rookie this year) flashes some potential.

I would assume that the future of the Jets’ backfield is Washington and Greene, although the team isn’t going to part with Jones until they see Greene in live action.

One of the more interesting and underlining storylines brewing in the NFL these days is the current one between the Jets and running back Thomas Jones, who is unhappy about his contract situation and who already skipped the first two months of the team’s OTA sessions.

Jones did report to the team’s OTAs last Wednesday, although some believe that was only because the Jets promised him that they’d try to trade him this summer if he showed up. He’s set to make $1 million in 2009, but no money in the remaining two years of his contract is guaranteed and that’s why he wants a new deal.

The Jets are in a tough spot because running back Leon Washington is also peeved about his contract situation, too. The team did draft Iowa running back Shonn Greene in April, but the Jets can’t afford to lose both Jones and Washington, leaving Greene (a rookie) as their full-time back.

Personally, I don’t blame the Jets for not caving into Jones’ demands. They paid him $13 million over the last two years and really only got one season of service out of him after he rushed for only 1,119 yards on 310 carries and one touchdown in 2007. He did bounce back last year, amassing 1,312 yards on 290 carries (4.5 YPC) and 15 total TDs, but one good season is hardly worth demanding a new contract, especially considering that he turns 31 in August.

If the Jets don’t want to pay Jones, they’re probably going to have to trade him. He’s not going to play without a guaranteed contract and they still have to figure out what they’re going to do with Washington. The key might be Greene; if he proves this summer that he can handle being the team’s early down back, the Jets could make Washington happy and trade Jones. (Assuming they have a suitor for Jones, of course.)

The Jets could do far worse than a duo of Greene and Washington, assuming Greene is up for the challenge as a rookie and they meet Washington’s contract demands (whatever they may be).