According to a report initially from the NFL Network, the Jets have fronted their newest defensive back $500,000 of his 2010 salary to help settle some outstanding debts in Cromartie’s paternity-suit cases. The Jets will pay the former Charger $1.7 million next season, but they hope that providing some of the payment up front will buy their new cornerback some peace of mind, so that he can put the paternity disputes behind him and focus on football.
The 25-year-old is a father to seven children from six different women in five states.
"I made some wrong decisions my first two years in the NFL, and now I have to take that responsibility to be a father. I need to deal with my kids and child-support issues," Cromartie said during a conference call with reporters on Friday. "Those things are being taken care of. I'm going to be the best father to them that I can."
Cromartie hopes to start his new commitment to fatherhood — as well as to the Jets — by settling all the issues from earlier in his career. According to the New York Post, the Jets could not confirm the early payment because of their policy of not commenting on players’ contracts, no matter what the nature. A source close to Cromartie did confirm the Jets’ help in the matter.
"He's got some time constraints on payments and [the Jets] did help him out with that,” the source told the paper. “They've certainly helped with everything and that's going to make life easier for him."
Though Gang Green couldn’t publicly commit to their monetary aid, general manager Mike Tannenbaum did rally support for Cromartie in his paternity debts.
"We're looking forward to him having a fresh start here with us and we're going to work with Antonio collaboratively to make sure we can do everything we can organizationally to give him the best chance to be successful," Tannenbaum told the Post. "We're looking forward to working together in that partnership."
