4 (NYJ) Things Before Saying Good-Bye to the 2024 Jets

ONE MORE TIME
Woody Johnson double-downed on his decision to fire Robert Saleh on October 8^th in his season-ending interview with Brian Costello of the New York Post. He said he had no regrets, even though the “most talented team in my 24 years of ownership” finished the year 5-12. He claims he was never looking to create a “spark” when he made the move, perhaps trying to deflect the fact the Jets lost 7 of their next 8 games. He claims he’s comfortable with the decision, despite the mountain of evidence showing that if the Jets defense had retained its early season form (giving up 17 points per game in Saleh’s 5 games), the Jets might have had the ability to turn their season around (giving up 26 ½ points per game in their final 12 games). Sorry, Woody, your false bravado doesn’t hold up. We called it a mistake at the time, and with the benefit of hindsight, it’s worse that even we thought. Admit it, you thought by flexing your muscles you were going to be responsible for righting the ship, instead, you sunk it. Let’s hope that deep down you did learn a valuable lesson because unlike your coaches and executives, you and your sons are not going anywhere.

NO MAS
Good try! Bringing in Aaron Rodgers seemed like a radical suggestion back in January 2023, but once it gained traction, it was a story that kept writing, and writing, and writing itself. Too bad they had to eventually play the actual games. Obviously, the result on the field was a resounding failure, but I think its lazy to brand this a “same-old” experiment. The Jets tried. Aaron Rodgers tried. It didn’t work. Having said that, two years is enough. There are zero reasons why either party should want year 3. Things got so bad before yesterday’s “500^th TD Celebratory Game” that Rodgers was starting to wonder if the Jets are jinxed. Plus, there’s little doubt that any new, competent, GM/Coach combo is going to want to wipe the slate clean.

QUARTERBACK OPTIONS
Another shout-out to Brian Costello of the NY Post, who last week mentioned the Jets should consider pending free agent Justin Fields. Stylistically, I like the concept of Fields at the top of the depth chart, backed up and mentored by Tyrod Taylor, with second year QBs Jordan Travis and Adrian Martinez. Building a QB room with the ability to run could be a nice complement to current offensive personnel. Of course, you can’t realistically have this conversation until we know the head coach/offensive coordinator. Once that’s decided, the Jets will have options:

1. Sam Darnold. It seems unlikely he would be interested in returning to the team that gave up on him after 3 seasons. However, his mentor Josh McCown, former Jets QB and current Minnesota Vikings QB Coach, is reportedly going to be interviewed for the Jets head coaching job. IF he’s hired as either the head coach, or even offensive coordinator, that could change Darnold’s thinking.
2. JJ McCarthy. IF the Vikings decide to stick with the MetLife tandem of Darnold and Daniel Jones, the Jets, with their 7^th overall pick, could be a good match for the Vikings.
3. Second Tier 2025 Draft Picks. It’s too early to see which prospects are going to pop out at the Senior Bowl, combine and pro-days, but Alabama’s Jalen Milroe is interesting because he stylistically fits into the Fields/Taylor scenario mentioned above, especially if the Jets new regime isn’t confident that Travis’ can regain the explosiveness that he showed at Florida State.
4. Kirk Cousins. IF Cousins is released then I can see the Jets sniffing around, otherwise his declining play in 2024 would make it a huge risk to give up assets to acquire.
5. Veteran FA’s. NONE of the veteran free agents would be a clear upgrade to Taylor, but the Jets could court someone like Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz, or Jameis Winston to battle for the position.
6. Class of 2021. Trevor Lawrence is committed to Jacksonville, but in addition to Fields, the rest of his first round QB class are scheduled to be available this winter – Mac Jones, Trey Lance & (yes) Zach Wilson.

WAKE-UP CALL
The New York Jets crashed and burned so badly, that in a strange way their young core was shielded from criticism. The narrative through most of the season was the dysfunctional franchise, meddling from ownership, poor coaching, coaching changes, and the enigmatic season of the enigmatic Aaron Rodgers.

Meanwhile, despite having 7 players in the pre-season NFL Top 100, the Jets got shut out in the Pro-Bowl voting. They were a pre-season favorite of many analysts, yet no one was worthy of the honor. As a matter of fact, Quinnen Williams was the only Jets player to be even a first alternate. Sauce Gardner, All-Pro his first two seasons, was a 5^th alternate.

The young core needs to realize that when a new GM takes over, and a new coach enters the building, they are going to get the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, it will be on the players to respond. Let’s excuse Jermaine Johnson (injured in week 2 with a torn Achilles) and Alija Vera-Tucker (who was coming back from his own torn Achilles) but the rest of the core –  Gardner, Breece Hall, Quincy Williams, Quinnen & Garrett Wilson – need to come back hungry to regain their status on the team and in the league.