The New York Jets’ playoff hopes likely died in the Sonoran Desert. Owner Woody Johnson’s big swings — firing head coach Robert Saleh, replacing him with Jeff Ulbrich, trading for wide receiver Davante Adams — didn’t work.
Johnson envisioned this season ending in the land of milk and honey. Instead, the Jets are 3-7 after their latest embarrassing loss. Johnson might not even be around for the aftermath.
In the lead up to the Presidential election, there was an expectation around the Jets’ facility that, if Donald Trump won, Johnson would leave to join his administration, as he did in 2016 when Johnson was appointed the ambassador to the United Kingdom. During the 2024 campaign, Johnson made a handful of appearances on Fox News stumping for Trump, his friend, and hosted Trump in his box at the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night road game a couple weeks ago, which took place a day after a Trump rally in Latrobe, Pa. If Johnson is heading back to work for the White House, that news will likely drop in the coming weeks. Last time, Trump picked Johnson on Jan. 19, 2017, and Johnson was confirmed in June. He wouldn’t have to go through the confirmation process again if he’s appointed to the same position — ambassador to the U.K. — though Johnson would have to be confirmed if he was appointed to a different position.
Last time, Johnson’s brother, vice chairman Christopher Johnson, ran the franchise for three and a half years until Woody Johnson returned in 2021. Christopher Johnson wasn’t around the team much in 2022 or ’23, but was back into the fold in ’24, possibly in preparation to take over if his brother leaves again. And if Woody Johnson does leave, it would carry plenty of implications for the Jets’ immediate future, and beyond.
There’s a good chance the Jets will be looking for a new head coach and general manager this winter. Ulbrich, previously the team’s defensive coordinator, hasn’t shown enough to earn the full time job since replacing Saleh in the interim, especially since the defense has taken a step back. The Jets rank last in the NFL in defensive EPA since Ulbrich became interim head coach, as well as 25th in rushing defense, 26th in red-zone defense and 25th in scoring defense. In the Week 10 loss to the Cardinals, they missed 20 tackles, per NextGen. As for general manager Joe Douglas, he’s felt like a dead man walking since Johnson started to enact his will without involving Douglas, who was not consulted before the decision to fire Saleh. Johnson also pushed for the Adams trade and to get Haason Reddick in the building with a restructured contract after a prolonged holdout.
“Woody and I talk every day,” Douglas said recently, sounding defeated. “I serve at the pleasure of the owner.”
Douglas is in the last year of a six-year contract and his best season record-wise — 7-9 in 2019 — came with a roster that he didn’t even build, hired in June that year after free agency and the NFL Draft. He’s never made the playoffs and has a worse career winning percentage as Jets GM than predecessors John Idzik and Mike Maccagnan.
Everyone in the league watched from afar as Johnson fired Saleh in Week 5 and took power away from Douglas. Then, they saw the results on the field. There will be interest if the jobs come open — there are only 32 NFL head coach and general manager positions, after all — but this isn’t exactly looking like an appealing organization for any prospective coach or GM. Candidates with options might think twice.
So that raises the question: How involved Woody Johnson will be when it comes to the next steps, which could also impact the Jets’ ability to lure quality candidates. He will most likely be involved in both searches (if Ulbrich and Douglas are gone), along with Christopher, before he joins Trump’s administration (if he does leave).
There’s also the question of how this impacts the future of Rodgers, who was supposed to be the franchise’s savior but instead looks like a shell of his former self. In the Cardinals loss he had 151 passing yards on 35 pass attempts, the second-fewest yards he’s ever had on 30 or more attempts in a single game.
Some in the organization wonder if, should the season continue down this path and Rodgers keeps playing the way he has, he might opt to retire. He’s turning 41 in December. There’s also the question of what coach would want to join a Rodgers-led team as his skills decline, considering all that comes with coaching Rodgers, from the off-the-field circus to the on-the-field control he demands.
Rodgers currently only carries a $23.5 million cap hit next year, but if he was cut or retired the Jets would incur a $49 million dead-cap charge. If the Jets declared him a post-June 1 cut (or retirement), they could split the $49 million hit over two seasons, with $14 million of it coming in 2025 and $35 million in 2026.
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There is still an avenue to Rodgers returning in 2025, though, and it actually starts with the Woody and Christopher Johnson dynamic. Rodgers has a close relationship with Christoper Johnson. When the Jets contingent (the Johnsons, Saleh, Douglas, Nathaniel Hackett and team president Hymie Elhai) visited Rodgers at his Malibu home last year to try and convince him to join their team, Christopher Johnson actually arrived first and spent time with the quarterback before the others arrived. Rodgers has a closer relationship with Christopher than with Woody, according to team sources, and some think Christopher Johnson’s presence might help convince Rodgers to stick around.
If Woody Johnson is making the calls, though, it wouldn’t be shocking if he wanted to move on from Rodgers considering the lack of success the team has had relative to expectations. After firing Saleh, Johnson called this Jets roster the most talented in his 25 years as owner.
Regardless of whether Rodgers returns, though, the roster will likely look a whole lot different in 2025. Some notable players set to become free agents: cornerback D.J. Reed, tight end Tyler Conklin, tackles Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses, defensive end Haason Reddick, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, safety Tony Adams, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw and safety Isaiah Oliver. The Jets will also have decisions to make on wide receivers Davante Adams and Allen Lazard. Star 2022 draft picks Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall are eligible for extensions for the first time.
Christopher Johnson made some questionable decisions in his time running the team, namely hiring Adam Gase in 2019, and waiting until after free agency and the draft to fire Maccagnan later that year. But some around the team feel that Christopher Johnson learned a lot from his first go-around and that he’s more likely to allow whomever the Jets hire as general manager the autonomy to run the team without much interference. That’s less likely to be true if Woody Johnson remains in the building.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5918431/2024/11/13/jets-owner-woody-johnson-trump-administration/
