The New York Jets announced that they fired general manager Joe Douglas after their latest loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Douglas was in his sixth season as the Jets GM and it was the latest big decision made by ownership during their disappointing 2024 season. Now that the Joe Douglas era with New York is complete, his legacy remains complex. Douglas took over a very barren team with an unpopular head coach in Adam Gase. He attempted to rebuild the team from the ground up through the draft and tried to supplement them with the right veterans. He eventually hired his hand-picked head coach Robert Saleh and made moves to get the defense to the top five in multiple statistical categories. Sadly, the winning never came as the offense struggled mightily overall as the offensive coaching staff and quarterback position were never right in any of the years Douglas was in charge, which is mainly why he is out of a job. I will look through Douglas’ tenure as New York’s general manager and list what he did right and what he did wrong that led the Jets to where they are at this moment, while also sharing my thoughts on what the Jets should do next.
The Positives
–Winning most of his trades
If there was one thing that Joe Douglas did well, it was winning his trades. His biggest win came when he sent disgruntled safety Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks and received two first-round picks plus a third-rounder in return. Adams ended up getting injured with Seattle and subsequently fizzling out of the league, while Douglas used those picks to acquire guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and wide receiver Garrett Wilson (more on him later) who showed promise when they played on the football field. Douglas also made smaller trades on the margins, which helped them later on in trying to make winning moves. One of those trades was when the Jets traded tight end Chris Herndon, who wasn’t NFL caliber at all, to the Minnesota Vikings for a fourth-round selection. Herndon failed in Minnesota and the Jets virtually stole a decent draft pick from the Vikings. These kinds of trades helped build depth for the Jets in some seasons and Douglas’ skill in that department was by far the most impressive part of his resume.
–The 2022 NFL Draft
Douglas’ performance was stellar at the 2022 NFL Draft. He locked down cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson with top-ten picks, and both instantly took the league by storm. Gardner became one of the better corners in the NFL in his first two years and Wilson was consistently having 1,000-yard receiving seasons with suspect quarterback play. Douglas also selected running back Breece Hall, whose offensive spark helped the Jets win games when he was physically and mentally dialed in. Pass rusher Jermaine Johnson was also a helpful player that came from this group, and overall this was the draft that made fans believe they had hope for the Super Bowl in the first place, and Douglas deserves credit for that.
–Finding impact players on the scrap heap
It is not easy to find legitimate players on the waiver wire. It requires skill and some patience to excel at this area of being a general manager. Douglas always seemed to succeed in this aspect, picking up players out of nowhere who became real contributors. He picked up John Franklin-Myers off waivers from the Los Angeles Rams, and he was one of the better defensive linemen on the team for several seasons. He also claimed linebacker Quincy Williams from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he became one of the fiercest players in the NFL, racking up tackles and putting his stamp on games while also playing with his brother Quinnen Williams. Lastly, signing pass rusher Bryce Huff as an undrafted free agent was great as he reached double-digit sacks by his final year with the Jets. Douglas continuing to win on the margins was his best trait as the Jets general manager.
The Negatives
–Drafting Zach Wilson
The Jets taking BYU quarterback Zach Wilson number two overall was a massive blunder. It was clear from the start that he would never work out because of his inability to read defenses and make decisive throws in the pocket. He threw too many interceptions and didn’t improve much week to week, as other draft picks on his team started to improve. The Jets began to win games despite Zach Wilson and his bad play caused the Jets to panic and look to find a veteran quarterback to replace him to keep the winning window afloat. Wilson quickly joined the pantheon of other Jets quarterback busts and Douglas is fully responsible.
–Drafting other busts in high round slots
Besides Zach Wilson, other high picks in the Douglas era failed massively. Douglas’ first pick ever was offensive tackle Mekhi Becton and he never lived up to the hype. Becton constantly battled weight issues and massive season-long injuries in multiple seasons along with some negative attitude behaviors that made the organization look bad. Douglas chose two second-round receivers, Denzel Mims and Elijah Moore, who both never panned out and were quickly let go, leading to bad receiver play on the Jets overall by relying on declining veteran talent. Some other notable big mistakes were defensive end Jabari Zuniga (round 3), quarterback James Morgan (4th round), and running back Michael Carter (4th round), which all led to the Jets having to pay a lot of money to fix these holes on the roster, and they could have benefited from cheaper productive players to help them evade danger from the salary cap threshold.
–Trading for Aaron Rodgers and hiring Nathaniel Hackett to appease him
Acquiring star quarterback and future hall of famer Aaron Rodgers at the time seemed like the correct decision. Rodgers was the most accomplished quarterback the Jets had had since Brett Favre and the team was seemingly ready to win. Rodgers’ first year was a disaster, as he tore his Achilles four plays into his first drive in his first game. The Jets ended up falling apart the rest of the year and not making the playoffs. One of the reasons why New York could never recover was that newly hired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was struggling to develop offense. It was clear that he needed to be let go for the Jets to win for the 2024 season. Unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers agreed to come to New York in the first place because Hackett was hired as the OC. Douglas ended up boxing himself into a hole and couldn’t fire Hackett without upsetting Rodgers, who could have easily threatened retirement. Rodgers had the power to control a lot of the decisions which ended up hurting the Jets in 2024. On top of that, Rodgers’ play declined because of his age, dealing with nagging injuries that affected his athleticism and movement out of the pocket, and stubbornness in running the plays called by the coaching staff which confused the rest of his teammates. This trade did not age well and was one of the final straws that led to Douglas being let go.
–The Haason Reddick negotiations
Before the 2024 season started, the Jets had to address their defensive line hole. Incumbent Bryce Huff was looking to get paid, but Douglas and his staff wanted to go in a different direction. They ended up letting Huff walk to the Philadelphia Eagles and traded for pass rusher Haason Reddick instead. Reddick was also looking for a new contract but the Jets thought his asking price was too high. It ended up leading to a holdout and Reddick refused to show up to practice and even missed a good portion of the year. Owner Woody Johnson ended up taking over negotiations from Douglas and was able to get Reddick to join the Jets after giving him a small raise. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Head coach Robert Saleh was already fired and the team was sinking in the standings. Just another head-scratching drama in the Douglas era that was more entertaining off the field than on it.
Where do the Jets go from here?
With Douglas and Saleh both no longer in the organization, the Jets need to find the right culture setters going forward. Frankly, the Jets have struggled with the “Same Old Jets” moniker for many many years, and this cloud hanging over the organization’s head has affected all parts of the team from the management to the players. It’s a disease that needs the right medicine to see long-term improvement. The Detroit Lions had the same illness and it took authentic personalities in general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell for them to change from the laughing stock of the league to the most dangerous team in the NFC you see right now. It is the only way in my mind I can see the Jets becoming watchable again, as hiring a typical “offensive mind” or “quarterback guru” type head coach and a bland GM who fades into the public’s obscurity is the wrong medicine for the “Same Old Jets” illness. They need to shake things up and take a risk. There is only one way to go from rock bottom, and that is up.
