The New York Jets closed perhaps the most disappointing chapter of a dreadful franchise history Tuesday by firing general manager Joe Douglas after five and a half failed seasons.
Douglas is out after a disastrous run in Gotham in which the Jets lost 64 of 94 games. That winning percentage (.319) was the worst of all 32 teams over that span.
But wins and losses aren’t the only reason Douglas is out. He made a series of ill-advised decisions that cost owner Woody Johnson untold riches and wasted untold goodwill within a fan base that was fed up with his stewardship.
Worst Decisions of Joe Douglas’ Time as Jets GM
From the beginning, most every big move Douglas made has backfired. The Jets had high hopes when they stole Douglas away from the Philadelphia Eagles to replace Mike Maccagnan in the summer of 2019.
Here are the three biggest areas of catastrophe for a Jets team that this year alone has spent more than $50 million on players per win.
Coaching Hires
Saleh inherited a mess in a lot of ways when he took the Jets job. He replaced Mike Maccagnan after free agency and the draft in 2019, and had an arranged marriage with Adam Gase, who had been hired as head coach just a few months earlier.
Gase lasted just 19 months more months, giving Douglas a chance to start fresh with his own guy.
Douglas landed on former San Francisco 49ers coach Robert Saleh, and it’s fitting that Douglas has followed Saleh out the door. They were the face of a failed era in New York. Together, they went 20-36 with zero playoff appearances in three-plus seasons together.
The defense was never the issue during the Douglas-Saleh Administration — the offense was. The Jets are 26th in scoring in 2024 (18.5 points per game) after finishing 28th in 2021 (18.2), 29th in 2022 (17.4), and 29th in 2023 (15.8).
The Jets ranked last in OFF+ in 2019 (57.3 rating out of 100), 2020 (57.1), and 2023 (50.2), and 31st in 2022 (61.7).
Quarterback Plan
Some GMs only get one chance to fail at quarterback. Douglas got two.
He drafted Zach Wilson second overall in 2021. That was an epic bust.
Wilson went 12-21 in three seasons in New York, and in that time completed just 57% of his passes, averaged just 6.3 yards per attempt, and threw more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23).
Now, in Douglas’ defense, he might have been a victim of bad timing. The Jets in 2021 had a high draft pick and an obvious need at quarterback in what turned out to be a bad quarterback year.
Of the five quarterbacks selected in the first round that year — Wilson, Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones — only Lawrence is still with his original team.
After two years, the Jets pulled the ripcord on Wilson as their starter and went all-in on Aaron Rodgers. They essentially give up two second-round picks plus a bit more in a complicated trade with the Green Bay Packers to acquire the then-39-year-old.
The rest is ugly history. Rodgers snapped his Achilles in his first drive with the team and has been OK but not great in Year 2, completing 63.4% of his passes for 17 touchdowns, seven interceptions, with a 6.4 yards-per-attempt average.
And then there was one. pic.twitter.com/JduALmbknY
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 19, 2024
More Draft Mistakes
Here are Douglas’ eight first-round draft picks in his five drafts with the Jets: OT Mekhi Becton in 2020; Wilson and OL Alijah Vera-Tucker in 2021; CB Sauce Gardner, WR Garrett Wilson, and LB Jermaine Johnson II in 2022; DE Will McDonald IV in 2023; and OT Olu Fashanu in 2024.
Becton and Wilson are gone. Of the other six, how many are guaranteed to be on the roster in two years? Gardner and Wilson are solid players, and McDonald looks to be too.
But that’s not nearly enough of a foundation considering the breadth of assets Douglas had at his disposal.
Those errors forced the Jets to overcompensate in free agency and via trades, which is never a great idea.
The perfect coda to the Douglas era in New York? Trading a third-round pick for a declining and aging Davante Adams, who in five games with New York has 26 catches for 278 yards and a touchdown.
Adams is set to count $38.3 million against the Jets’ cap next year — at age 32.