"The Jets play the Redskins in Washington on Dec. 4. There's a very good chance Santonio Holmes will be playing in that game. But for which team?

Bringing back Holmes, the top wide receiver playmaker on the market, as an unrestricted free agent is the Jets' No. 1 priority. Sources say the Redskins have also made Holmes their No. 1 priority.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder's wallet often doesn't have a conscience - he actually gave Albert Haynesworth $41 million guaranteed two years ago - so Woody Johnson must be prepared for a battle of the checkbooks.

Remember how the Jets and Skins fought over Laveranues Coles in 2003? That one got nasty. Holmes is a better player than Coles, so if Snyder goes all out to get him, this could be better than anything that happens on Dec. 4. Rex Ryan can be pretty persuasive, but most of these deals, of course, come down to who puts up the most money.

Football fans may be absolutely disgusted with this labor showdown that should come to an end Monday when the NFLPA executive committee is expected to recommend to the 32 players reps that they ratify the deal, but they are going to love free agency this year: About 450 of the 1,900 players in the league are unrestricted free agents. That's just about 25%.

After the executive committee makes its recommendation, the player reps will then recommend the deal to the 1,900 players.

Ultimately, this was an offseason business dispute and the only thing fans missed out on in the last four months is the frenetic pace at the beginning of free agency, which was supposed to start March 4."