2024 Jets: Out of the Darkness - Take 2

[MikeM]

Firing JD is feeling a little too much like Saleh imo. Which was more about appeasing the bloodlust in the moment then doing anything that actually moves us forward.

That it's not Hackett (yet again) being fired here instead feels more like a circling the wagons around Aaron effort to me. Especially after speculative talk on whether the team would want him back in 2025 have really started to heat up to a boil over the last week or so.

 

[jtn46]

Hey, he did give full control of the team to Aaron Rodgers. And that must be acknowledged.

Yeah tough spot. I think he's made some really great picks but screwed up with Zach Wilson, hasn't fixed the OL and went all-in on Rodgers and his binkies. Maybe a lot of that is Woody.

 

[Marciano490]

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) on X

Jets have named former Browns general manager Phil Savage as their interim general manager.

I guess if you’re the Jets the Browns look like an aspirational franchise.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Being an interim GM past the trade deadline must be the cushiest job ever.

 

[Cellar-Door]

I guess if you’re the Jets the Browns look like an aspirational franchise.

Positives.... drafted Joe Thomas.
Negatives...
team stunk 3 of the 4 years he was there
a brief stint in the PHI front office in the early 2010s was the last time he was in the NFL
last exec job was as GM of the Arizona Hotshots in 2019


Edit- was given his first NFL job with the Browns by..... Bill Belichick as a defensive assistant than moves to the scouting department.

 

[mauf]

Firing JD is feeling a little too much like Saleh imo. Which was more about appeasing the bloodlust in the moment then doing anything that actually moves us forward.

That it's not Hackett (yet again) being fired here instead feels more like a circling the wagons around Aaron effort to me. Especially after speculative talk on whether the team would want him back in 2025 have really started to heat up to a boil over the last week or so.

I think it’s a prelude to a house cleaning after the season. Cut Rodgers, trade anyone who isn’t on a favorable contract at least through 2026 (the dead-cap hit on Rodgers ensures 2025 will be a bridge year), and let a new GM and coach start rebuilding.

Of course, I’m sure you have zero confidence that Woody will tap the right people to lead this. But even he can’t seriously be considering running it back next year.

 

[MuzzyField]

Full discloser, I believe Trent Baalke should be launched into the Sun.

The only reason Trent is here is Shad Kahn sucks at the football side of owning an NFL team and Urban Meyer needed a drinking buddy/stooge to play with. Shad's winning percentage is .300 (62-144) since buying the team in 2012. However, his $770 million dollar investment is now worth north of $4-billion. Granted, my dog, if he had $770 million, could have done equally as well on the business side of owning an NFL team.

Baalke should have been flushed with Urban. Instead, he got to stick around and waste an insane about of draft capital, jump the gun on paying top-dollar for the sporadically displayed "potential" of Trevor Lawrence, and set a vault of free agent money on fire. Trevor is not a bust, but with the end of year 4 in sight his NFL sample size is not elite-level. A $55-million salary should get a team better and smarter QB play. For now, Trevor is closer to Daniel Jones than Joe Burrow.

The AFC South has been one of the worst divisions, if not the worst division, in the NFL since the Manning-Luck Colts era ended. The Jaguars playoff run in 2022 required both the Titans and Colts to end the season on 7-game losing streaks for the Jags to get into the postseason. The 3-win Texas rounded out the ineptitude.

Trent Baalke believes his current 2024 roster is the best in the history of the franchise. Not even close.

Trent Baalke, horrible GM, shittier human.

Still, the Jets have lapped the field when it comes to dumpster fire ineptitude and that should never go unrecognized!

 

[E5 Yaz]

Being an interim GM past the trade deadline must be the cushiest job ever.

Cushier than his role as "senior football adviser"?
https://www.newyorkjets.com/team/front-office-roster/phil-savage

 

[DJnVa]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1858920786347614295

It's 100% NOT a complete reboot with Rodgers still there.

 

[DJnVa]

I think it’s a prelude to a house cleaning after the season. Cut Rodgers, trade anyone who isn’t on a favorable contract at least through 2026 (the dead-cap hit on Rodgers ensures 2025 will be a bridge year), and let a new GM and coach start rebuilding.

Please draft Shadeur Sanders.

 

[ilol@u]

It's 100% NOT a complete reboot with Rodgers still there.

Exactly. Rodgers, Lazard, and Devante Adams are still there. Not saying the WRs are the problem, but Rodgers wanted to bring his own groceries to the kitchen and it's simply not working out.

Does Aaron play the entire season? Or once they are mathematically eliminated will they sit him?

 

[astrozombie]

Exactly. Rodgers, Lazard, and Devante Adams are still there. Not saying the WRs are the problem, but Rodgers wanted to bring his own groceries to the kitchen and it's simply not working out.

Does Aaron play the entire season? Or once they are mathematically eliminated will they sit him?

Aaron decides when to play and sit himself thankyouverymuch. I imagine he'll be sitting long before they are mathematically eliminated and taking potshots from the sidelines.

 

[Doug Beerabelli]

Strange the firing of an assistant GM would be so noteworthy.

 

[MikeM]

I think it’s a prelude to a house cleaning after the season. Cut Rodgers, trade anyone who isn’t on a favorable contract at least through 2026 (the dead-cap hit on Rodgers ensures 2025 will be a bridge year), and let a new GM and coach start rebuilding.

I keep coming back to the same counter point on that. The very first move that signals a real commitment to pivot away from this being Aaron's franchise will start with that Hackett firing. Until that happens there is absolutely no reason to *NOT* believe Aaron Rodgers Take 3 2025 is 100% happening.

And that firing is still not happening. What other rational explanation is there for that? I can't think of one. Especially after already firing the best coach in the building before him, and now a mid season GM firing.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Exactly. Rodgers, Lazard, and Devante Adams are still there. Not saying the WRs are the problem, but Rodgers wanted to bring his own groceries to the kitchen and it's simply not working out.

Maybe they should hire Freddie Kitchens

 

[nattysez]

It's 100% NOT a complete reboot with Rodgers still there.

Good news (for Jets fans) on that score:

There are seven weeks left in this season. It will give the Jets a jumpstart on another rebuild. They’re looking for a new general manager. They will be looking for a new head coach. Sources told SNY that the team prefers to move on from Rodgers, too. Those are the easy decisions, though. How to fill those voids poses a much greater challenge.

https://sny.tv/articles/jets-joe-douglas-firing-what-comes-next

 

[luckiestman]

Good news (for Jets fans) on that score:



https://sny.tv/articles/jets-joe-douglas-firing-what-comes-next

LMAO. Right now “the Team” is the baby powder bros

 

[DeadlySplitter]

View: https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1859061896025915894

 

[Justthetippett]

View: https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1859061896025915894

Let it burn. Glorious. Can Rodgers get Woody fired or at least back in the diplomatic service?

 

[Cellar-Door]

Good news (for Jets fans) on that score:



https://sny.tv/articles/jets-joe-douglas-firing-what-comes-next

Sure they "prefer" to move on.... how does that work though? Are you cutting him and eating $49M cap hit? post June 1 designation to keep it to a big but manageable hit in each of the next 2? Paying someone a draft pick to eat his salary?

Feels like more of Woody Johnson being delusional... the decision on Aaron Rodgers is mostly on Aaron Rodgers. If he doesn't retire the Jets do not have many good options other than riding out the final year.

 

[joe dokes]

[/QUOTE]

Can Rodgers get Woody fired or at least back in the diplomatic service?

That depends on what his next job is.

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

The jets have a roster that is much, much better than the Patriots. Is Joe Douglas the guy who has drafted all those players?

 

[E5 Yaz]

View: https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1859061896025915894

The (paywalled) story is insane as to Woody's involvement:

If it wasn’t obvious how involved Johnson was in the operation before this season started, it became clearer in October, when Saleh was fired. Johnson explained that he felt the Jets had the most talented roster the franchise had assembled in his 25 years as owner and he wanted to find a spark before it was too late, promoting Ulbrich to interim head coach. The line about the roster talent was presumably an endorsement of the work Douglas had done over the past few years, but multiple sources within the organization viewed it as more of an endorsement of the roster that Johnson felt that he had built.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5933929/2024/11/19/joe-douglas-new-york-jets-gm-fired/

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

View: https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1859061896025915894

So, he wanted Rodgers benched because he was holding the team back, but since that time, he met with Rodgers prior to Saleh's firing, OK'd trading for Rodgers binky (Adams), and has kept Rodgers buddy Hackett on board despite a woefully underperforming offense.

Makes sense.

 

[DanoooME]

The (paywalled) story is insane as to Woody's involvement:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5933929/2024/11/19/joe-douglas-new-york-jets-gm-fired/

Johnson explained that he felt the Jets had the most talented roster the franchise had assembled in his 25 years as owner and he wanted to find a spark before it was too late, promoting Ulbrich to interim head coach

So Woody and Shad have been smoking the same ganja.

 

[streeter88]

The jets have a roster that is much, much better than the Patriots. Is Joe Douglas the guy who has drafted all those players?

He got his start in the Ravens personnel department from 2000 - 2015, went to the Bears as Director of College Scouting for one year, then was VP Player Personnel for the Eagles from 2016 - 2019. And of course, GM of the Jets from 2019-2024. So he would have brought in pretty much all of the current roster, and maybe also have his fingerprints on the veteran core of the Eagles, moving on just before Hurts came in the class of 2020.

Originally from Mechanicsville, Virginia - midlantic states guy, so maybe New England would be a bit cold for him, but...

 

[Cellar-Door]

The jets have a roster that is much, much better than the Patriots. Is Joe Douglas the guy who has drafted all those players?

Lots of highs and lows.
Crushed the 2 top 10 picks in 2022 (Gardner and Wilson) plus found Hall, and Johnson is decent
2020 draft was a complete whiff (Becton, Mims, Zuniga, Perine, etc.) multiple guys in early rounds out of the league, none had real impact with the Jets.
2021- top 2 pick and he whiffed on a QB, again had another early 1st, took Vera-Tucker at 14... he is starting at G.. solid, Elijah Moore was another WR miss,
2023- Tipmann is decent, McDonald is having a good year, nothing much else.

So.. averagish? Had a lot of shots in the 1st half of the 1st which helps.

Hits and misses in FA too, as well as trades.

Basically he was in the same category as most GMs.

 

[luckiestman]

Lots of highs and lows.
Crushed the 2 top 10 picks in 2022 (Gardner and Wilson) plus found Hall, and Johnson is decent
2020 draft was a complete whiff (Becton, Mims, Zuniga, Perine, etc.) multiple guys in early rounds out of the league, none had real impact with the Jets.
2021- top 2 pick and he whiffed on a QB, again had another early 1st, took Vera-Tucker at 14... he is starting at G.. solid, Elijah Moore was another WR miss,
2023- Tipmann is decent, McDonald is having a good year, nothing much else.

So.. averagish? Had a lot of shots in the 1st half of the 1st which helps.

Hits and misses in FA too, as well as trades.

Basically he was in the same category as most GMs.

You take our draft slots and you put them up against his buddy DJ’s board, I bet Douglas did not outperform it. He did some good stuff with UDFA and waiver wire guys. 30-64 is bad. Seems like the talent is there on this team, big mess up with Dline this year. Not good enough. SOJ

 

[joe dokes]

and has kept Rodgers buddy Hackett on board despite a woefully underperforming offense.

Makes sense.

Buddy Hackett might be an improvement.

 

[BigJimEd]

Sure they "prefer" to move on.... how does that work though? Are you cutting him and eating $49M cap hit? post June 1 designation to keep it to a big but manageable hit in each of the next 2? Paying someone a draft pick to eat his salary?

Feels like more of Woody Johnson being delusional... the decision on Aaron Rodgers is mostly on Aaron Rodgers. If he doesn't retire the Jets do not have many good options other than riding out the final year.

$49M in dead money. 25.5M charge against the cap vs him on the roster which they have room for. If the Jets do a June 1st, they actually have a cap saving in 2025 of about $9.5M.

Once you get rid of Adams salary, the Jets have about $80M in cap space for the offseason. So they are in pretty good cap shape but several of the young talents will be looking for big raises. The organization has some decisions to make.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Buddy Hackett might be an improvement.

I hang 'em, you bang 'em. Well done, sir.

 

[nattysez]

I hadn't previously appreciated how "hands-on" an owner Woody is. Was he like this when Parcells was there, or did the Tuna put him in his place?

 

[luckiestman]

I hadn't previously appreciated how "hands-on" an owner Woody is. Was he like this when Parcells was there, or did the Tuna put him in his place?

he bought the team in 2000, Hess before that, iirc

 

[Van Everyman]

BB loved Hess FWIW. If he hadn't died, he'd almost certainly have been HC of the NYJ for more than a day.

 

[mcpickl]

Sure they "prefer" to move on.... how does that work though? Are you cutting him and eating $49M cap hit? post June 1 designation to keep it to a big but manageable hit in each of the next 2? Paying someone a draft pick to eat his salary?

Feels like more of Woody Johnson being delusional... the decision on Aaron Rodgers is mostly on Aaron Rodgers. If he doesn't retire the Jets do not have many good options other than riding out the final year.

The Jets are in a really tough spot here.

As you said, if they cut/trade him, they eat a 49M dead cap hit.
If they keep him, they have to pay him another 37.5M for next season, then they'll have a 63M dead cap hit going into 2026.

They are screwed either way, but I'd move on and take the massive dead cap hit now, over taking an even bigger dead cap hit the following season.

 

[MikeM]

So, he wanted Rodgers benched because he was holding the team back, but since that time, he met with Rodgers prior to Saleh's firing, OK'd trading for Rodgers binky (Adams), and has kept Rodgers buddy Hackett on board despite a woefully underperforming offense.

Makes sense.

It adds up better if you frame it as a surrounding concern at the time of Rodgers being banged up and and looking like he could maybe use some time off to heal. Which would completely change the surface implication (but of course not for the better if DR and co was shooting at a spicier take. I like DR a lot actually...but yeah).

Conceding to the fact that nobody should find much of that surprising given Woody is going to Woody, nixing the Jeudy trade was probably the worst thing in there for me imo. He'd of been a much better fit for the Hackett offense, in the miraculous event we had figured a way to get more out of it, then Mike Williams ever was.

I'm slightly more convinced then I was yesterday that Rodgers will indeed be back in 2025.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

I'm slightly more convinced then I was yesterday that Rodgers will indeed be back in 2025.

You follow the Jets so much more closely than me, but I can't see how Rodgers returns next year.

For starters, while Rodgers is owed ~$23M for 2025, if they cut him after June 1, they actually save $9.5M on the 2025 cap, according to this: "Can the Jets Get Out of Aaron Rodgers?"

From the ownership side, Rodgers has now become a pariah with the fanbase and moving onto something new would be warmly received. Moreover, Woody went on record saying he wanted AR benched, which I don't believe in a million years, but that's the position he decided to stake and publicize. Getting rid of him now gives off a strong "I'm in charge here now" vibe that I'm sure Woody deeply craves.

And, probably most importantly, from Rodgers' side, what does AR have to gain by sticking around the Jets? Would appear to be little chance he can lead that team deep into the playoffs next year, which really is the only level that would be acceptable to save AR's legacy. Really no other team for him to play for that would be appealing either: Vegas? Tennessee? Panthers?. The best I could come up with is Cleveland.

Now from the actual football perspective, what would the Jets do next, that's a tough one. No meaningful QBs to trade for far as I can tell unless you want Deshaun Watson (!). Or trade for David Carr? Sam Darnold will be a free agent, but that's tough to see. Justin Fields? Draft the #2 QB on the board and rinse/wash/repeat, I guess.

I think the best way out for Rodgers' ego is to say he never got all that healthy in 2024 (not un-understandable) and all things considered it's probably best for him to turn the page and get into the next chapter of his life. As a philosopher and thought-leader.

 

[Tony C]

I imagine it was not Woody who publicized that -- sounds like the revenge of either Saleh or JD leaking that after being fired.

That said I agree I can't imagine AR being back. An ego like his won't want to take the humiliation of working for a guy who wanted to bench him (and, hey, whose to say Woody was wrong if the other path taken has led to a 1-6 record since then?).

Such hilarity.

 

[joe dokes]

BB loved Hess FWIW. If he hadn't died, he'd almost certainly have been HC of the NYJ for more than a day.

Wasn't BB's (perhaps late) stated concern over the new ownership? (I don't think an owner could have been *less* hands-on than Leon Hess.)

 

[Van Everyman]

It’s hard to be less hands-on than a dead guy, but you never know in the NFL, what with the Pat Bowlen and Tom Benson-types.

Anyway, yes. I think Bill both liked Hess and also likely felt that Parcells would have a free hand to boss him around without any owner in place.

 

[8slim]

Wasn't BB's (perhaps late) stated concern over the new ownership? (I don't think an owner could have been *less* hands-on than Leon Hess.)

Precisely. The ownership situation was in flux and the shadow of Parcells loomed over everything.

 

[MikeM]

And, probably most importantly, from Rodgers' side, what does AR have to gain by sticking around the Jets? Would appear to be little chance he can lead that team deep into the playoffs next year, which really is the only level that would be acceptable to save AR's legacy. Really no other team for him to play for that would be appealing either: Vegas? Tennessee? Panthers?. The best I could come up with is Cleveland.

Well, making the argument from the outside that Aaron Rodgers would/could be better off elsewhere is easy. But that isn't happening in the mind of Aaron Rodgers. If *he* believes he still has it in him to be elite he still has a lot of what he wanted in place here, An owner who until I see anything directly suggested otherwise is in his pocket (refer again to my alternate framing about Woody wanting him benched), a prominent FO position for his best friend (which keeps his upper level coaching career alive. likely no small consideration there imo), a core of WR he's already confident in, ect ect. Rodgers may be a narrsisist but he's not stupid. He's not realistically expecting a lot of that to come with him if he goes anywhere else.

Let's also not forget that at the end of the day this is Mr. I Value MVP Awards above all else we are talking about. Who likes his stats, and FWIW has twice as many goal line pass attempts within the 5 yard line this year then Breece has carries. So I'm not sold having a legit chance to win the superbowl is actually the utmost priority variable there some my default into thinking it is. If *he* believes he can still end up having a big statistical season here in 2025 with some hands on tweaks to the roster then that might be enough to sell him on the chance the rest falls into place imo.

 

[radsoxfan]

I just want to say as Pats fan who dislikes both the Jets and Rodgers immensely, I could not have scripted the last 2 years any better.

What an absolutely beautiful mess.

 

[MikeM]

I just want to say as Pats fan who dislikes both the Jets and Rodgers immensely, I could not have scripted the last 2 years any better.

What an absolutely beautiful mess.

*shrug*

Honestly I don't see the Pats really being in any better 5 year projection shape then we are. Especially with an equally getting more kooky in his old age owner. But I'm also completely checked out on putting any stock in the the whole "savior QB out of the draft" philosophy fix. I don't like that NE FO/coaching makeup, and have little faith they don't end up ultimately failing Maye just like they did the last kid.

Not that any of that ultimately matters much. I'll be shocked if anybody other then Buffalo with a healthy Josh Allen wins this division before my 13yo heads off to college.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

I feel like Pats fans dunking on the Jets for their front office mess are ignoring that we, too, have a moron owner and (unlike the Jets currently) have a bad roster, terrible HC/GM

Drake Maye is the only thing the Pats have (currently) over the Jets and there’s a good chance Mayo, Wolf and Kraft waste Maye’s rookie contract window.

not saying I’d rather be in the Jets position but I think both teams are in a bad spot (Miami too for different reasons)

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Putting Woody Johnson on the same plane as Kraft….well then.

 

[radsoxfan]

I feel like Pats fans dunking on the Jets for their front office mess are ignoring that we, too, have a moron owner and (unlike the Jets currently) have a bad roster, terrible HC/GM

Drake Maye is the only thing the Pats have (currently) over the Jets and there’s a good chance Mayo, Wolf and Kraft waste Maye’s rookie contract window.

not saying I’d rather be in the Jets position but I think both teams are in a bad spot (Miami too for different reasons)

Since when does dunking on the Jets have anything to do with the Pats?

Pats fans can still enjoy the Jets being a mess and Rodgers career ending with a whimper. No reason to make it a comparison.

I'm enjoying the Jets/Rodgers' fate just as much with the Pats being bad as I would if the Pats were Super Bowl contenders.

 

[HakkyNH]

Jags guy has almost same record, almost exact

edit: Balke also 30-64. A Perfect Stranger To Douglas

The bolded just isn't getting enough love in this thread.

 

[Van Everyman]

I feel like Pats fans dunking on the Jets for their front office mess are ignoring that we, too, have a moron owner and (unlike the Jets currently) have a bad roster, terrible HC/GM

Drake Maye is the only thing the Pats have (currently) over the Jets and there’s a good chance Mayo, Wolf and Kraft waste Maye’s rookie contract window.

not saying I’d rather be in the Jets position but I think both teams are in a bad spot (Miami too for different reasons)

Yeah, this is a terrible take for a host of reasons.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Putting Woody Johnson on the same plane as Kraft….well then.

Depends where it is going. . .