Santonio Holmes placed on injured reserve

The New York Jets have placed star wide receiver Santonio Holmes on the injured reserve to confirm the news that the Jets organization feared after his injury against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Holmes, the only true weapon on the Jets offense, was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury, which is one of the worst injuries a player can suffer. It was the injury that cost Matt Schaub his season last season, and Ronnie Brown also suffered that injury last season.

Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

The Jets owe Holmes $7.5 million in guaranteed money next season (Manish Mehta) which is something that plays greatly in his favor. The team simply cannot afford to give up that kind of money for nothing, unless if they really feel like Holmes is enough of a cancer in the locker room to warrant his release. He’s also their best receiver, even if the production doesn’t nearly match the talent.

You can’t rule out the Jets completely parting ways with Holmes, but it seems unlikely due to the cap figure and the fact that he is one of their most important players on offense.

On that note, Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense will struggle even more than usual with Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, and Dustin Keller as the three best receivers on the Jets offense. All three of them have value, but the team lacks a true No. 1 receiver and will need one of either Kerley or Hill to prove that they can be a No. 2 receiver this season. That’s not going to happen with Kerley, who is an unspectacular slot receiver, but it could happen if Hill is somehow able to harness all that raw ability and consistently put it together this season as a rookie.

That’s probably not going to happen either, so the season-ending injuries to both Holmes and Darrelle Revis are extremely devastating to a team that could be picking in the top five in 2013. Holmes isn’t a great player as he consistently underperforms, but he is an important player to the Jets because of the ineptitude of their offense and a lack of another big-play threat.

This could be a long year for them, and I actually feel bad for our hated rivals.

Santonio Holmes will need surgery.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.