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Troubled Steelers WR Santonio Holmes Traded to Jets

By Jim Scott | April 12, 2010 12:36pm | Updated on April 12, 2010 3:15pm
Despite off-the-field issues, Santonio Holmes gives the Jets another talented wide receiver for quarterback Mark Sanchez to throw to.
Despite off-the-field issues, Santonio Holmes gives the Jets another talented wide receiver for quarterback Mark Sanchez to throw to.
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Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

By Jim Scott

DNAinfo Senior Editor

MANHATTAN — The New York Jets may or may not make it to the Super Bowl with the team being constructed by management, but at the very least their players are making for some good back page headlines.

The Jets boosted their wide receiving core by trading a fifth-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes late Sunday night.

Holmes comes to New York with plenty of talent and even more off-the-field baggage. The 26-year-old wide receiver will be suspended for the first four games of next season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, profootballtalk.com reported Saturday.

The 5-foot-11 Holmes is also facing a lawsuit by a Florida who claims he threw a glass at her in an Orlando nightclub, injuring her above the eye. Police are investigating the matter, but no charges have been filed.

Santonio Holmes catches a 6-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII on Feb.1, 2009.
Santonio Holmes catches a 6-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII on Feb.1, 2009.
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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The speedy wide out was arrested in 2008 for possession of marijuana and was involved in a domestic violence incident in 2006 while he was still in college at Ohio State. Both misdemeanors were dismissed, according to the Associated Press.

The Jets acquired Holmes to give quarterback Mark Sanchez another talented target to throw to this season.

Holmes caught 79 passes for 1,248 yards and five touchdowns for the Steelers last season. Holmes, who's in the final year of his contract, is best known for his tiptoe catch in the corner of the end zone on the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl against Arizona in 2009.

Holmes is the latest troubled player acquired by Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum over the last two years. New York traded for Braylon Edwards last October days after the wide receiver was accused of being involved in a fight outside a Cleveland nightclub with a friend of basketball star LeBron James.

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie, 25, was acquired by the Jets from San Diego over the winter despite facing five paternity lawsuits and owing thousands of dollars in unpaid child support. Cromartie, who has seven children with six mothers in five states, has since paid the past-due child support.