Jets general manager Joe Douglas is, like head coach Robert Saleh, widely believed to be on the hot seat this season. Underscoring that reality is the fact that Douglas has just one year remaining on his contract, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.
Regardless of contractual situation, Douglas’ future with Gang Green would likely be dictated by the club’s performance this season. After all, New York is 27-56 during his time at the helm, and while some of that record can be chalked up to the expected growing pains of a rebuild and poor injury luck, GMs and head coaches generally do not survive too long without at least a playoff appearance.
Douglas signed a six-year deal with the Jets in June 2019, and since that time, he has certainly added plenty of talent to the roster. That includes a celebrated 2022 draft class that featured Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, and Breece Hall, and the Saleh hire has paid major dividends on the defensive side of the ball: over the past two seasons, New York has finished in the top-four in total defense.
Still, the long-term success of a franchise will be driven largely by quarterback play, and that is where the Jets have failed. Douglas’ decision to use the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft on Zach Wilson, despite Wilson’s unusual prospect profile, proved to be a disastrous decision that Douglas tried to correct by acquiring then-39-year-old Aaron Rodgers last year.
The fact that Rodgers suffered a season-ending ankle injury four snaps into the 2023 season, which thrust Wilson back into the starting lineup and torpedoed the fortunes of a seemingly playoff-worthy outfit, essentially gave Douglas and Saleh a reprieve. But owner Woody Johnson made it clear that, while he is not one to issue a “playoffs-or-bust” mandate, he is expecting a strong showing in the upcoming campaign.
“[Douglas and Saleh have] seen me about as mad as I could be with what was going on with the offense particularly,” Johnson said in February. “We’ve got all this talent and we’ve got to deploy talent properly. So I think they all got the message. This is it, this is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year, we have to produce this year.”
If the Jets do not, in fact, produce, then Douglas and Saleh will likely be seeking new employment, with Douglas’ contract making it even easier for Johnson to make the call on his oft-scrutinized GM. For what it’s worth, Rapoport says that Douglas is comfortable with his lame-duck status, perhaps because he believes he is a healthy Rodgers season away from securing a new deal.
On the plus side, he’s built one of the best rosters in football and hired a coaching staff that gets great defense and strong effort even when the season is shot. On the negative side, quarterback, offensive coordinator, and offensive line have been insurmountable problems his whole tenure. Could see this going either way. If the axe does fall, I think he’d probably deserve another crack at GM some day.
He could get a second chance with the Giants who in my mind have an even bigger GM problem. My money is on Schoen and Daboll not being retained after this season.
I could not disagree more with this assessment of Joe Douglas. First of all, the team was absolutely dogshit under mccagnan. Quinnen Williams and CJ Mosley (who was overpaid by $30 million) were the only worthwhile players on the roster. He had to strip that roster down to the studs. He made shrewd trades of Darnold and Jamal Adams that allowed him to rebuild the roster.
How did they get into this situation? The owner left from 2016-2020 to be the UK ambassador for Trump. He left the team to his brother, who hired Gase. They ran the team into the ground. The fact that Woody even has the gall to say anything is a tribute to his ineptitude.
The biggest problem was drafting Zach Wilson. When replacing Zach Wilson, Flacco, Josh Johnson, and the immortal Mike White all performed admirably in Zach’s absence. The team rallied around Mike White on multiple occasions, a glorified practice squad player.
The saving grace is that Lance, Fields, and Mac Jones have all been dog water. The rest of the roster is absolutely loaded. Yes, Rodgers getting hurt sucked. Woody not allowing Douglas to go get a legitimate QB after week 1 was what held us back. We won 7 games last year. We were 4-3 after beating the eagles before it all fell apart. Our defense is the best in team history. And then after the season the owner says “We didn’t have a legitimate backup QB”… Well, that’s on you! You wouldn’t allow Douglas to bring in Jacoby Brissett or someone of that ilk.
Douglas is not the problem. If you get rid of Douglas, not one is going to come here. We’re more of a super bowl contender now than we were in 2010. GM is the least of our problems.
I don’t think we disagree that much. Like I said, he’s built one of the best rosters in football mostly from scratch. And both of his big quarterback moves have gone worse than could have been predicted. But GMs often take the fall for quarterback situations. And the Reddick situation isn’t a great look for Douglas. Me, I think he’s good and should be retained. I’ll just always be annoyed at Becton over Wirfs.
Joe Douglas will have success in the NFL at some point in his career. Just not with the Jets, but that’s typical of this organization. Coaches, players, GMs get hired by the Jets as first timers and “cut their teeth” learning as they go. Only HC they’ve hired with any NFL experience at that position was Bill Parcells in ’97. Think about that! Unless you want to count the 1 day Belichick was named the Jets’ HC after Parcells quit…LoL. Pete Carroll went on to have success with the Patriots & Seahawks. He even brought in washed-up QB Geno Smith and look at him now. John Riggins moved on to become a HoF RB and Suoer Bowl champion with the Skins, and on, and on the list goes.
Best of luck to you in your future, Joe. I’m sure you’ll find it elsewhere.
I know its a time we like to forget but Jets hired Adam Gase, who had experience in the HC position prior to the hire. Obviously it was a bad hire but thats Macs fault tbh
CORRECTION: my mistake, but you can forgive me for blanking on 2 of the most egregious HC hires the Jets have ever made. Before Parcells, came Rich Kotite who was previously the HC with Philly. And then there’s Adam Gase who came over from Miami…but those 2 “coaches” only further prove my point that this organization is the laughing stock of the NFL!