The New York Jets fired general manager Joe Douglas on Tuesday. After nearly six years at the helm, the poor win-loss record finally caught up to Douglas. When head coach Robert Saleh was fired in October, reports surfaced that owner Woody Johnson made that decision without Douglas’ input. A report from The Athletic explains how involved Johnson was, including this anecdote about Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor.
The following scene took place at a meeting involving Douglas, coaches, and front-office executives after Week 4. “The coaches had been called in to explain what happened with their units during the 10-9 home loss to the Broncos,” Jets reporter Zach Rosenblatt and insider Dianna Russini reported. “During the meeting, Johnson suggested to the coaches that they bench Aaron Rodgers in favor of Tyrod Taylor because he felt Rodgers’ performance was holding the team back.”
The article continues, “The coaches and Douglas, stunned at the suggestion, talked him out of it and convinced Johnson to stay the course and that benching Rodgers, with his pedigree, four games into the season would not sit well with the locker room. The coaches also felt it would embarrass Rodgers. The idea of benching the future Hall of Famer sounded so absurd that one coach asked whether the owner was serious — multiple sources from that meeting believed he was.”
This report cements Douglas’ legacy as the guy who went down with Aaron Rodgers. While that would usually be a good bet to make, it has been a disaster for the Jets. Benching Rodgers would not have fixed the systemic issues with the team.
How can the Jets recover from the Aaron Rodgers era?
The article goes on to outline many other times that Johnson stepped on Douglas’ hands in personnel decisions. Rosenblatt and Russini imply that Bryce Huff would be a Jet if not for Johnson. That move would have prevented the Haason Reddick saga from ever beginning. They also mention that Johnson ended that drama without Douglas’ input.
After reading this article, it’s undeniable that Johnson is too involved in the daily operations of the Jets. The good news for fans is that he will likely be elsewhere until 2028. In President-elect Trump’s last presidency, he served as the Ambassador to England. The bad news is that Christopher Johnson will likely take over again.
Under Christopher, the Jets hired Adam Gase, drafted Sam Darnold, fired Mike McCaggnan after the 2019 draft, and hired Douglas. This all ends with Christopher likely picking another general manager, coach, and quarterback. That should scare Jets fans, as his poor decisions all lead to the current situation.
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