A look at what's going on around the New York Jets:

1. Brady's penalty "extremely harsh:" Jason Babin, 35, is the oldest player on the Jets and perhaps the most opinionated when it comes to matters involving the league office and the NFL Players' Association -- i.e. DeflateGate. The veteran linebacker is a former player rep and his grandfather was a union leader in Chicago, where he dealt with Jimmy Hoffa, so Babin can be described as pro-union. But the developments surrounding the Tom Brady/New England Patriots controversy are making him shake his head.

Jason Babin is unhappy with how the league has approached the punishment to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Jim Rogash/Getty Images

What irks Babin is the severity of Brady's penalty (a four-game suspension) and how commissioner Roger Goodell has complete control of the process, handing down the sanctions and hearing the appeal.

"The punishment seems extremely harsh, comparative to other punishments for other things -- off the field and performance-enhancement penalties," Babin told ESPN.com. "A lot of guys aren't happy that we gave away the right to a fair and balanced procedure when it comes to discipline, giving carte blanche to the commissioner. A lot of guys, when we re-visit the CBA again, hopefully re-think that option or at least fight for it."

Babin said he attended most of the meetings during the 2011 CBA negotiations and it "never got brought up." Babin, who was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles at the time, said many player reps were blindsided by what he felt was an abrupt agreement. As he said, "We left a meeting, got home from the airport and, all of a sudden, you see Jeff Saturday kissing Robert Kraft [at a news conference]. We were like, 'What happened?' We thought we were at an impasse. ... A lot of people were a little confused."

Four years later, Babin said it's still "a sore subject." He has recused himself from union affairs.

As for Brady's alleged wrongdoing, Babin said: "If there's proof of him being in cahoots with the [equipment] guys, yeah, there should be punishment. But I don't think ... there's a smoking gun. I'm sure he told them, 'I prefer it on the lighter side.' Who knows?"

2. The Marshall plan: The Jets are putting an extra $1.3 million in Brandon Marshall's wallet this season, as ESPN Insider Field Yates reported Saturday. The news came three days after Marshall told reporters he's made enough money in his career, and that all he cares about is winning. Hey, I get it, it's a business. Marshall had some leverage when the Chicago Bears put him on the trading block -- several teams were interested -- and he maximized it. What I'd like to know is, how does Muhammad Wilkerson feel about this? The Jets are spitting out cash like an ATM, paying big money for imported players, but their best home-grown player still has the same old contract. Yes, they took care of David Harris; now it's Wilkerson's turn.

3. Wilkerson returns to Mo-town: Wilkerson, skipping offseason workouts for contract-related reasons, hasn't talked publicly since the end of the season. On Friday night, he's scheduled to meet the media at his charity bowling event in Linden, New Jersey, his hometown. It's unclear whether he will address his contract situation. Wilkerson is hosting his second annual charity weekend, which includes a youth football camp on Saturday. His foundation will raise money for scholarships, which will be awarded to schools in Union County. He has spent part of the offseason in Atlanta, working out with a personal trainer.

4. Mike'd up: During his two years out of football, former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum worked as an agent for Priority Sports, handling mainly coaches. Two of his former clients, David Blatt and Steve Kerr, will meet in the NBA Finals. How's that for a Midas touch?

"I was just privileged to be around both guys," Tannenbaum said in a phone interview.

Kerr, of course, crushed the hearts of New York Knicks fans by taking the Golden State Warriors job.

"Steve has a lot of respect for Phil Jackson," said Tannenbaum, now the Miami Dolphins' football czar. "Obviously, the talks with the Knicks were serious in nature. We had multiple meetings. At the end, the decision kind of happened organically. It resolved itself over 10 days."

Little-known story: Blatt almost joined Kerr's staff with the Warriors, according to Tannenbaum. That changed when the Cleveland Cavaliers stepped up with an offer. As for a rooting interest, Tannenbaum said he's hoping for a seven-game series, with overtime in Game 7.

5. Brownie points: The Jets' rebuilt secondary, led by Darrelle Revis, already is drawing attention around the league. Asked to name the best secondaries in the league, Cleveland Browns safety Donte Whitner mentioned his own and the Seattle Seahawks. But, according to Cleveland.com, he added, "... Based on the players the New York Jets picked up, I'd say you have to put them up there, but they haven't done anything collectively together, so I'd say the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks."

The Jets open against the Browns, but I don't think anything will be settled in terms of which secondary is better. Consider the likely quarterbacks: Smith and Josh McCown.

6. The Magnificent 7: Mike Maccagnan is living proof that a general manager doesn't have to get his start in the NFL. Before landing his first full-time scouting job in the league, he cut his teeth in the World League and the CFL. He has an appreciation for alternative routes, which might explain some of his scouting hires. Three of the seven new college scouts spent time early in their careers in football jobs outside the NFL -- Lee Gissendaner (a scout in the World League and CFL), Jim Jauch (played in the CFL) and Zach Truty (a personnel director in the Arena League). Hey, there's more than one road to the big time.

7. Look who's talking: Three members of the Jets -- Willie Colon, Antonio Cromartie and Leger Douzable -- will attend the NFL's broadcasting boot camp this week at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It runs from Monday to Thursday and will cover a wide range of topics with instructors from all the networks. It's a great opportunity for players to familiarize themselves with the broadcasting business, just in case they decide to pursue it after football. A handful of former Jets are expected to attend, including Braylon Edwards, who's never had a problem expressing his opinions.

8. Old money: A few days ago I wrote a salary-cap analysis, noting the Jets' six highest cap figures belong to players at least 30 years old. Some people on Twitter wondered how that compared to other teams. Well, I checked the other teams in the AFC East and the results support my premise that the Jets have an unusually large amount of money invested in "older" players. Looking at the top six on each team, the Miami Dolphins have three in the 30-and-over category (Cameron Wake, Branden Albert and Brent Grimes), while the Buffalo Bills (Mario Williams and Kyle Williams) and Patriots (Brady and Sebastian Vollmer) have only two apiece. So the Jets are an outlier -- at least in their own division.

9. Rookie deflation: Seven years ago, the Jets selected Vernon Gholston with the sixth overall pick and gave him a contract that included $21 million in guarantees. A month ago, they took Leonard Williams in the same spot and he received $18.6 million in guarantees, thanks to the rookie wage scale instituted in 2011. When Williams records his first sack, it will be one more than Gholston notched in his entire career. Don't get me started.

I have the specifics of Williams' contract. The only wrinkle is that, in 2016 and 2017, he'll make the minimum base salaries ($525,000 and $615,000), with the rest of his fixed compensation coming in the form of roster bonuses, payable on the fifth day of the league year ($756,858 and $1,513,716). The bonuses are guaranteed. Three of this year's top seven picks signed deals that included straight base salaries after the first year, with no roster bonuses. All it means for Williams is he'll get a nice chunk of his money in March instead of during the season.

10. Happy birthday, Joe: That's right, Joe Namath turns 72 today. Cool never gets old.