"Santonio Holmes is now a Jet for life. At least, that is how Rex Ryan wants him to feel. If the reported $50 million deal did not make Holmes feel at home in green and white, Ryan gave the controversial wide receiver some more stake in the team.

Of the five captains named Saturday, Holmes was the only one who was not originally drafted by the Jets. He was also, perhaps, the most surprising pick.

"It's unexpected," Holmes said Saturday after the Jets' last practice before heading to Houston for Monday's preseason opener. "Coming from where I came from, tryouts pretty much for one year, being here, everything worked out in my favor."

Ryan had already named Mark Sanchez a captain for the offense. Saturday, he named cornerback Darrelle Revis and nose tackle Sione Pouha the defensive captains. He named Eric Smith the captain for the special teams. Unlike past years, Ryan simply chose the captains and did not have the team vote.

"Santonio was a guy we brought in. (He) went from, as we look at him, from a rental to an owner, a guy that was here, we tested, we tried it out and now he's one of us," Ryan said. " I expect the last jersey he'll ever wear to be a New York Jets jersey and we're extremely happy that he chose to come back. I see (Holmes) as a guy that took the challenge that I gave him. I wanted him to lead from the front and I think that's what he's doing."

Holmes was an unlikely choice for a captain and not because he was not originally drafted by the Jets."