by MARK CANNIZZARO , The New York Post

Sanchez, the new face of the franchise, the Jets' No. 1 draft pick and the fifth player selected overall, agreed to a five-year deal worth about $50 million that includes $28 million in guaranteed money, according to an NFL source.

It's believed that, if Sanchez reaches some certain incentives, the deal could escalate to $60 million.

This deal makes Sanchez the highest paid player in Jets history.

The Jets' last two first-round draft picks, CB Darrell Revis in 2007 and LB Vernon Gholston in 2008, held out into training camp and set themselves back. Gholston, in fact, never really caught up.

Sanchez, despite the star vibe that follows him, seems to be all about work. He said yesterday he was determined not to be a training camp holdout.

"This is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders," Sanchez said after yesterday's afternoon practice. "I'm all about Football and now I can focus on only Football. This sends the right message. It's not in my makeup to hold out. That would have been terrible for me.

"Now, I know I'll be there from Day One, ready to go and ready to compete for the job."

Sanchez, who's looked markedly better with each practice, displaying a stronger arm than many believed he had, is competing with Kellen Clemens, who's in his fourth year in this offensive system.

"I'm just happy for Mark and for [GM] Mike Tannenbaum and the Football staff that the business stuff is behind them where Mark is concerned," Rex Ryan said. "From here on out it's about Football. He's a great young man who has been working hard since he got in here and I'm excited that we have him in the fold."

This was another step in the new direction the Jets have been taking since their disappointing finish to the 2008 season.

They made the bold draft-day move to get Sanchez, acquiring the fifth overall pick from Cleveland for their first-round pick, their second-rounder (No. 52), and defensive end Kenyon Coleman, safety Abram Elam and quarterback Brett Ratliff.

Sanchez said he's ready to prove the Jets' decision as worthy.

"Obviously, I'm thankful to the Jets and the organization, but that comes with a lot of responsibility and I'll be working every day - on and off the field - to justify this contract and let the Jets know they did the right thing," Sanchez said.

"Honestly, I'm still pinching myself. I wanted to be a Jet and to end up with a contract like this is pretty generous on the Jets' part."

Tannenbaum joked that he kept Sanchez's verbal wishes not to be a contract holdout in mind throughout the negotiations.

"I recorded that, so I played it back a couple of times," he said. "Every time they asked for something unreasonable, I just played that. Mark is a sincere person."

He's also proven to be a hard worker. Though he started only 16 games at USC, he went 14-2 in those and seems to be polished beyond his years of experience.

"You gain confidence as you go," Sanchez said. "Now I am starting to really feel the defense and see what is going on. As difficult as our defense can be, I am starting to get an idea."

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