Woody Johnson pulled the plug on the Joe Douglas era, just 42 days after telling the world that the reason he fired Robert Saleh was because the Jets were underperforming with “one of the most talented New York Jets teams ever assembled”.
Not sure if Woody realizes this or not, but Joe Douglas was the person responsible for assembling that talent.
Woody’s opinion was not considered outlandish. The hype that the Jets received the last two off-seasons was not based on Aaron Rodgers alone, it was based on the respect that the league and its observers had for the talent that Joe Douglas put together.
Before we review Douglas’ legacy, let’s go back 42 days and reiterate that Woody made a tremendous mistake in firing Saleh 5 games into the season. It was impulsive and illogical considering the lack of success NFL teams have had after firing their head coach in mid-season. As we said then, Saleh had a lot to prove as a head coach, but he’s a strong defensive coach, and the Jets strength was a top 5 defense that has dropped precipitously since he was fired.
Like Saleh, Douglas also hasn’t proven that he is capable of being the head of football operations. However, in the Jets structure, that position is currently held by Woody. IF Trump 47 does what Trump 45 did and reappoints Woody as the “United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom”, then football operations will be headed by Woody’s brother Christopher Johnson. Either way, the position that Douglas held was that of General Manager. By definition, the General Manager’s job description is to “assemble talent”.
When Douglas arrived in 2019, he didn’t inherit much talent. Jamal Adams was the only elite player who in 2019 was in the NFL Top 100, made the Pro Bowl and was named an All-Pro. Douglas changed that. For example, in 2023 Sauce Gardner and Quincy Williams were All-Pros, while Gardner, Quinnen Williams and Jermaine Johnson were playing in the Pro Bowl. Plus, he leaves a team with 7 players in the pre-season NFL Top 100: Aaron Rodgers (92), Haason Reddick (87), Garrett Wilson (72), Davante Adams (40), Gardner (38), Williams (37), Williams (32).
Douglas has had some big misses in the draft (Mekhi Becton, Zack Wilson) but many more hits including Gardner, Wilson, Johnson, Breece Hall, Alijah Vera-Tucker (injuries aside) and Michael Carter II. He also has some younger players who are starting to flash in Will McDonald, Olu Fashanu, Joe Tippmann and Braelon Allen. Douglas has also been good at under-the-radar free agent signings like DJ Reed and Tyler Conklin, waiver claims like (Quincy) Williams and John Franklin-Myers and undrafted rookies like Tony Adams, Xavier Gipson and Leonard Taylor III.
One of Douglas’ strengths is to set a monetary value on a player and not go over that value. This has helped him in both free agency and determining which of his own players to keep. Two prime examples were his trades of (Jamal) Adams and (Leonard) Williams for significant bounties when he decided they were not worth what their agents were looking for. You can trace the acquisitions of Carter II, Vera-Tucker, and (Garrett) Wilson to those trades.
Trading is probably Douglas’ biggest strength, especially when he doesn’t have Woody taking away his leverage like he did in the Rodgers and (Davante) Adams trades. He surprised many by acquiring draft picks when trading away depreciated assets like Mike Williams, Mecole Hardman and Chris Herndon.
Considering how little NFL teams, including the Jets, were able to secure for 2021 QB busts Trey Lance (4throunder), (Zack) Wilson, Justin Fields and Mac Jones (all 6th rounders), trading Sam Darnold to Carolina for a 2nd, 4th and 6th round pick may have been his best trade. And let’s keep in mind that before Darnold flashed in this, his 7th year in the league, Carolina and San Francisco also gave up on him and Minnesota signed him to be JJ McCarthy’s veteran caddy.
The NFL is a business, and businesses in general, are about the bottom line. The Jets record is 30 and 64 with Douglas as the General Manager. IF you manage by spreadsheets, charts, and your fan’s opinions on X, then it’s a no-brainer to fire Douglas. However, the best organizations have stability. When they find talented people, they do their best to support them and not to pull the rug out from under them (as Woody apparently did last winter if you believe The Athletic’s reporting).
Woody Johnson has had 24 years to prove that he is a good owner. He has failed to do so. He continuously pulls the plug on rebuilds, makes impulsive purchasing decisions (Brett Favre, Tim Tebow, Le’Veon Bell, Rogers) and is too thin-skinned to not react to criticism. Sound familiar? Yes, that’s the same thing we said about James Dolan until he hired Leon Rose and took a backseat. That’s the only chance for this organization to get out of the doldrums. Don’t just hire another coach and GM. Hire a President of Football Operations and let them run the show.
In the meantime, Woody can feel good about firing the person responsible for putting together “one of the most talented New York Jets teams ever assembled”. At least Woody didn’t have him escorted out of the building by security like he did with Saleh. Perhaps that’s a sign of personal growth.
