Mike Tannenbaum, Rex Ryan have 'great relationship'

If Mike Tannenbaum is bitter about his dismissal from the New York Jets, he's hiding it well.

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The former Jets general manager told "NFL AM" on Thursday that his relationship with coach Rex Ryan remains intact, despite being flushed out of town for decisions that certainly involved both men.

"We have a great relationship," Tannenbaum said. "And I think when you're part of the selection process -- you know, (owner) Woody (Johnson) and I selected Rex -- you feel like, in some ways, it's like your draft choice. We won 38 games over four years. Four playoff wins. I'm proud of that. With that said, Rex and I have a good relationship.

"... When we would go into a room, we'd have great debate, we would disagree -- and candidly, that's what you want when you run an organization. You just don't want a bunch of people saying 'yes.' We would always leave that room (saying), 'This is a Jet decision, and now let's go make it work, and leave things behind closed doors.' "

Tannenbaum acknowledged that on Valentine's Days of old, he spent more time with Ryan than his own wife. He'll have a chance to correct that pattern this year.

Here's what else we learned from Tannenbaum on Thursday:

»On inking wayward quarterback Mark Sanchez to a five-year, $58.25 million contract extension last March: "I don't think I would have signed a quarterback to an extension knowing that he'd have 26 turnovers."

» On taking the fall for a talent-poor roster that bottomed out in 2012: "I would pride myself in our decision-making process, in terms of bringing everyone into the room, but ultimately, I had final say, and as the leader of the team, when we fell short, Mr. Johnson made a decision, and I understand it."

» On the origins of the Tim Tebow deal: "It actually goes back a year ago. Coming out of the lockout, we lost Brad Smith. We made a couple decisions there. Brad signs with Buffalo, (and we) felt like we lost something on our offense. One of the interesting things about working with Rex, he always talked about, when the quarterback has the ball in his hands, it's harder to defend. So, a lot of our offensive philosophy grew from that. We felt like getting Tim was an opportunity to replace Brad and kind of re-solidify the position at quarterback."

» On whether Tebow is done as an NFL quarterback: "I could never say that. This is a guy who was successful in high school, won championships in college, and he's the type of person who's either going to be successful as a pro quarterback or die trying. He's highly competitive. Obviously there's some skills he has to work on. He has to be a more consistent thrower from the pocket, we all know that; the accuracy. But with that, there are things he does bring to the table."

» On if he enjoyed watching the Jets struggle to sign a new general manager: "It's the best job in the world. It really is."

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.