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What a strange weekend it has been for Santonio Holmes.

Yesterday, we reported that Holmes is facing a four-game suspension under the substance abuse policy. Tonight, we're told that the Steelers have traded Holmes to the New York Jets.

It's the second time in less than a year that the Jets have swung a deal for a former first-round receiver. Last October, they acquired Braylon Edwards from the Browns.

Like Holmes, Edwards also is facing a possible suspension, after pleading no contest to an assault that occurred only days before he was traded. Also, both players are signed through 2010.

Suddenly, HBO's Hard Knocks got a lot more interesting.

UPDATE: Peter King of SI.com and NBC confirms that it's a done deal. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports that the Jets gave up a fifth-round draft pick for Holmes, who was the MVP of Super Bowl XLIII. A fifth-round draft pick for a former Super Bowl MVP.

The Twitter servers are being overloaded this evening as word spreads like wildfire of the trade that sent Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets.

Ironically, the move comes only days after Ken Laird of ESPN 1250 in Pittsburgh reported that Holmes didn't believe the Steelers will pay him big money, and that Holmes wanted to play in a big market.

And so the former Buckeye is now paired with a former Wolverine, Braylon Edwards. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) They'll both be catching passes from a former Trojan, while a former Horned Frog sits at the end of the bench and pouts.

Meanwhile, Peter King of SI.com and NBC put it best in characterizing the move: "A shot across the bow to Big Ben." King also points out that the Steelers could have played this out for something more than a fourth-round pick, but that the Steelers opted to get it done, displaying a "we're not gonna take it anymore attitude."

We're also wondering whether the Steelers pulled the trigger on the deal so quickly because they fear there's a chance that, come 2:00 p.m. E.T. on Monday, they'll get another dose of bad news from District Attorney Fred Bright, ESPN's report on the matter notwithstanding.

Either way, the stakes for Monday's press conference just went way, way up. If Roethlisberger gets charged, he could be the next one to be traded for a cold turkey sandwich with wilted lettuce.

As the New York Jets welcome Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to town, they should be very concerned about how much of him they'll actually see.

Given our report from Saturday that Holmes is facing a four-game suspension for violation of the substance abuse policy, the move means on the surface that the Jets will have to prepare to perform without Holmes for the first 25 percent of the 2010 season.

It also means that, if the suspension sticks, Holmes will be one false move away from a one-year suspension.

Assuming, based on his history with marijuana (and his recently stated intention to "wake n bake"), that Holmes' violations flow from an inability to quit smoking pot, he could become the NFL's next Ricky Williams -- a guy who loves weed more than he loves playing football.

If that's the case, it's unclear whether the Jets will see much of Holmes on the field at all, in 2010 or beyond.

PulpExposure wrote:I can't believe all it took was a 5th round pick...

PulpExposure wrote:I can't believe all it took was a 5th round pick...

Santonio Holmes has been suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season.

He has been suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. The imposition of a four-game suspension means that he has violated the policy on multiple occasions, with a three-game fine preceding the four-game exile.

He'll be permitted to participate in the offseason program, training camp, and the preseason. After the fourth preseason game, he'll be required to leave the team facility.

Meanwhile, he's one more violation away from a one-year suspension

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
The Steelers were prepared to release wide receiver Santonio Holmes had they not been able to trade him, sources told the Post-Gazette today.

They took the best deal they could find late Sunday night -- a fifth-round choice in the April 22-24 draft from the New York Jets. It was the best offer they received after talking to a number of other NFL teams about trading Holmes.

The trade came one day after a report on Profootballtalk.com that Holmes faces a four-game suspension in the 2010 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, which was confirmed today by the Post-Gazette.

Although it has not been announced whether Holmes will be charged in Orlando after a woman claimed he threw a glass in her face at a club early last month, the Steelers obviously had enough with their sometimes brilliant but often troubled wide receiver.

Holmes helped deliver the franchise its sixth Lombardi Trophy with his spectacular touchdown catch that won Super Bowl XL and brought him the game's MVP trophy. That came several months after coach Mike Tomlin made him inactive for one game after his arrest for marijuana by Pittsburgh police, a charge that ultimately was dropped.

He also was charged twice in his rookie year, once for disorderly conduct and once for choking a former girlfriend, but was not convicted on either account.

After the woman in Orlando filed a civil suit against him last month, Holmes issued some bizarre comments on his Twitter account, telling one person to kill himself and announcing another time that he was going to "wake n bake," considered by some to be slang for smoking marijuana.

Steelers management was furious with Holmes' antics and the black eye it and Ben Roethlisberger's legal issues had given to the organization.

They signed two free agent wide receivers last month, perhaps already knowing about Holmes' latest violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. Also, they have entertained four wide receivers among the 28 college prospects who have visited them over the past two weeks, two of them considered likely first-round picks: Notre Dame's Golden Tate and Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant,

Holmes, the first wide receiver taken (with the 25th overall choice) in the 2006 NFL draft, had his best regular season in 2009 when he led the team with 1,248 yards receiving on 79 receptions, with five touchdowns. It was the first time he had topped 1,000 yards receiving. He has not made a Pro Bowl in his four seasons in the league.

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert issued a curt statement after the Steelers finally confirmed the trade late this afternoon:

"We believe the move is in the best interests of the Steelers." It was a straight-up deal that does not include any other picks -- conditional or otherwise - or players.

The trade leaves the Steelers with 11 choices in the upcoming draft. Four of them are fifth-round draft choices -- one of their own, two compensatory and the other in the Holmes trade.