Robert Saleh‘s firing (or at least the timing of the decision) came as a surprise to many inside the Jets’ organization, and it has led to speculation about further changes being on the horizon. For the time being, though, general manager Joe Douglas appears to be safe. 
The 2023 season was marred by offensive struggles, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers‘ Week 1 Achilles tear resulted in ownership giving the franchise’s key decision-makers a mulligan. Five weeks into the current season, Saleh has been dismissed and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has been stripped of play-calling duties. Plenty of attention will therefore turn to the performances of interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich and passing came coordinator Todd Downing as the season unfolds.
Douglas was among the key personnel who avoided the threat of being fired after last season. Another campaign out of the playoffs would of course result in increased pressure for a front office change, but as things stand one does not appear imminent. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes owner Woody Johnson holds Douglas and Ulbrich in high regard, and they will have a 12-game audition period to create the possibility of remaining as a tandem for next year. As Fowler notes, Douglas’ contract will expire after the 2024 campaign, so his job security could change over the coming weeks.
After a lengthy tenure serving as a Ravens scout, Douglas spent a single season as the Bears’ college scouting director. That was followed by a stint as the VP of player personnel in Philadelphia and then, in 2019, his current position at the helm of the Jets. Douglas’ tenure consists of a 29-59 record with his rebuilding efforts being set back by multiple failed quarterback draft investments. The Rodgers trade acquisition was aimed at immediate contention, but after a 7-10 season (largely without him available) and a 2-3 start to the current campaign, improvement will be needed moving forward to meet that goal.
Fowler reports Johnson had “concerns” about Saleh’s leadership, adding tension was believed to exist between the fourth-year coach and the Jets. While that issue did not rise to the level of a mutiny being possible, players were known to be frustrated by the team’s consistent struggles on offense. Johnson was serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom when Saleh was hired, a factor which no doubt impacted his thought process before singularly deciding to replace him with Ulbrich.
The latter will be tasked with overseeing improvement on offense with Downing calling plays. Reaching the postseason would help their respective job securities while also boosting Douglas’ chances of remaining in place for a seventh season as general manager.
His quarterback handling has been rough, of course, and I’ll forever be annoyed they took Becton over Wirfs, but he’s generally drafted well, made some sharp signings, and built a strong roster. The Rodgers situation is messy, but I think they’re better off hanging onto Douglas. Now if they can only get Woody out of the building again.
Yea, another “genius” meddling owner…..
I largely agree with your assessment, but that Reddick trade is another black eye on Douglas’ track record. To me, he seems adept at drafting and making quality depth moves, but tends to miss the mark on the “big fish” transactions
In fairness, outside of quarterback, their big fish haven’t been that big. Uzomah and Tomlinson were duds, but even those weren’t marquee signings. And Lazard wasn’t a good signing, but it was a cost of doing business with Rodgers move (which is its own genre of problem). Whitehead and Conklin worked out solidly and Reed has been an incredible signing. I don’t even mind the Reddick thing all that much. They gave up pretty little to get him. Missing Johnson is holding the defense back more than missing Reddick.
He should be fired for his QB mistakes alone. The other failures are just icing on the cake but he’s a faithful lap dog for the owner.
His QB mistakes, or were they Woody’s…?
I heard Brett Favre wants to make a comeback. Vinny Testerverde says he’s stayed in football shape, oh sorry, that was foosball shape. Colt McCoy says as soon as he can get his orthopedic cleats he’s available. Tom Brady says Social security and Medicare be damned he’s ready. Joe Biden says, who, what, foosball, feetball, huh. Kamala Harris says, football is for feet, feetball, footballs are leather, and small businesses like leather feetballs, footballs are leather you know. Trump says, Footballs are made in China, very bad, Chinese footballs are very bad.
Normal sequence seems to be – fire the coach, then fire a ‘coordinator’, designate ‘interim’ then fire GM and hire a new staff.
Dancing around the root of dysfunction then acting like a Grouse that discovers its slow motion robot walk hasn’t fooled the predator.
Nothing will make a difference because the franchise has consistently capitulated to Aaron and he doesn’t care for things like pre-snap motion or anything designed to mask plays
You know … the evolution of the game
He’ll pout, make back-handed comments, be passive-aggressive … Aaron Being Aaron
All reasons I laughed at my friends who’re Jets fans when they celebrated the trade for him.
They went all in on him thinking they were going all in on a Super Bowl when all they did was add another ring to the existing circus
They weren’t exactly blessed with good options. By their own admission they were inept at developing draft prospects like Darnold (looks pretty good now though doesn’t he?) so that forced them to pursue a veteran QB. In hindsight Carr would have been the better choice but he was more interested in joining the Saints anyway. Despite Rodgers being an unsufferable diva he did have MVP awards on his resume so in that regard he was the logical choice. I give the Jets credit for being more aggressive in trying to find solutions than the Giants who are in just as bad a mess most of the time.