Apparently, the city of Cleveland is not big enough for LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal and Braylon Edwards. So between the Jets' eye-opening loss in New Orleans on Sunday and on the eve of their Monday night game against the Dolphins in Miami, the Cleveland Browns traded Edwards -- an immensely talented but unpredictable wide receiver -- to the Jets. What a dizzying couple of days. On Wednesday morning, Edwards was headed to the Browns' training facility, trying to figure out how he would get through another day in pro football's purgatory. Summoned to the coach's office, he soon heard coach Eric Mangini tell Edwards he was leaving the 0-4 Browns for the emerging 3-1 Jets. Later that day, Edwards, dressed in a green Jets warm-up outfit, was standing in front of members of the news media at the team's training facility in New Jersey talking about how thrilled he was with the move up in the standings. You got the sense he was sincere. 'It feels great,' he said. 'I've always loved New York since the first time I came here. It's a great town, and obviously what's going on here with the Jets and Coach Ryan, they're doing a great thing so far. To be a part of that feels good.' On Thursday, Edwards was practicing with the first offense. So, in the whole scheme of things, is this move reward or punishment? A starter since his rookie season in 2005, Edwards has had a career marked by 'incidents.' He was involved in a sideline dispute with a teammate in 2006. That same season, he publicly challenged the Carolina Panthers' defensive backs. As a former Wolverine, he went ahead and attended the Michigan-Ohio State game after the Browns' team captains implored him not go. As a result, Edwards arrived late to a team meeting. This summer, Edwards reported a day late for training camp and promptly failed his physical. And last Sunday, hours after losing to the Bengals in overtime, Edwards was apparently involved in an after-hours brawl outside a Cleveland nightclub with one of James' friends. James called Edwards 'childish.' Is Edwards a gift or a headache? The Jets don't care. In a business where all that matters is winning, the Jets went after a pure talent who they feel can help them win games. Coach Rex Ryan isn't hiding his respect for his newest player's talent. 'He is a matchup nightmare,' Ryan said. 'You almost have to roll coverage to him; he's one of those kind of talents.' At 26, Edwards has a greater upside than any other receiver on the Jets roster. He made the Pro Bowl in 2007 -- his third season in the league. An engaged Braylon Edwards immediately gives the Jets' running attack greater breathing room by forcing defenses that had been loading up against the run to worry about air assaults. Just ask the Giants about the impact Plaxico Burress had on their running game. Edwards provides Jerricho Cotchery more opportunities to run his trademark medium-range routes against soft coverage because defenses will now be preoccupied with stopping Edwards. And Edwards' amazing jumping ability will no doubt make the Jets a more effective team in the red zone. The gamble for the Jets is whether Edwards will grow into a more consistent performer on the field -- he had 16 drops last season -- and a more mature citizen out of uniform. Clearly, Edwards is still deciding which way to go. During his introductory news conference, Edwards spoke candidly about his spotty past, about changing his image and how hard it was listening to people describe him as a troublemaker. 'It does tick you off,' he said. 'My mother knows me, and she gets more angry about it than I do. I'm trying to create not a new image, but I'm trying to just brush it up a little bit.' In New York, where you can be just about be anything you want to be -- high profile, low profile, no profile -- will Edwards be able to keep himself out of the line of fire? Can he master the art of remaining highly visible in one part of his life and virtually invisible in the other? To channel Derek Jeter? And does he even want to? 'You have some people who say, 'Is he this or is he that?'' Edwards said. 'Some people are still on this side, and there are some people still on that side. That's what I mean by fresh start. I can come with all the negativity that's out there about me, and I can come here and perform well on Sundays, on Mondays, practice hard and prove to my teammates and coaches that I'm a good guy, and let everything else play its course.' Edwards said all the right things during his introductions. He was engaging and humorous. Edwards talked his way out of Cleveland; now the question is whether he can he play his way into the hearts of New Yorkers. Deeds, not words. 