The media narrative pinning the New York Jets' struggles firmly on their meddling owner shouldn't ignore Joe Douglas' shortcomings. Edit by Liam McGuire, Comeback Media.
NFLBy Sam Neumann on

There’s something to be said about the media narrative surrounding Joe Douglas.

Since being fired, the onus has been less on the now-former New York Jets general manager and more so on an impulsive, meddling owner.

Woody Johnson has earned a reputation for letting the court of public opinion dictate his decisions. His ownership style seems less about trusting the football experts in his building and more about reacting to what people on Jets Twitter are saying he should do.

The 77-year-old heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune gives the impression of someone too concerned with public perception, chasing approval rather than trusting the football minds he’s hired. It’s also no secret that Johnson has a history of leaning on advice from non-football advisors — an approach that rarely, if ever, ends well.

Douglas’ tenure didn’t end well, either.

Johnson had placed a general manager hired by his brother, Christopher, in an untenable position. As detailed in reporting by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt, Douglas’s influence had steadily eroded over the last calendar year.

Since Tuesday’s firing, Todd McShay, Dan Orlovsky and Colin Cowherd have defended Douglas, arguing that he built a talented roster and that his dismissal points to deeper organizational issues.

Which is absolutely true. But pretending Douglas didn’t have a hand in his own downfall is ludicrous in itself, especially because it ignores reality.

Connor Rogers of NBC Sports and Pro Football Focus’ NFL Stock Exchange podcast perfectly explained why after nearly 100 games at the helm of the franchise’s front office, Douglas ultimately didn’t work out in New York.

Here’s a summation of those points:

The three quarterbacks Douglas has attempted — and failed — to build around tells much of the story.

Douglas moved on from Sam Darnold, believing a reset with the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft would be his regime’s solution to fixing the quarterback woes that have plagued the franchise since Joe Namath. Instead, Zach Wilson’s tenure became an unmitigated disaster, setting the franchise back years. When Wilson faltered, Douglas gambled on Aaron Rodgers. The move briefly reignited hope but left the Jets exposed when Rodgers injured his Achilles four plays into the 2023 season. The lack of a viable contingency plan after Wilson’s struggles was glaring, especially given the team’s reliance on a 40-year-old quarterback.

Offensive line issues, which were supposed to be his calling card, were another recurring theme under Douglas.

Choosing Mekhi Becton over Tristan Wirfs in the 2020 NFL Draft proved to be a disastrous decision. Becton’s inability to stay healthy left the Jets scrambling for answers at left tackle year after year. It’s how the Jets ended up starting a 38-year-old Duane Brown to protect Rodgers’ blind side.

We all know how that turned out.

While Douglas did well to draft Joe Tippmann and Olu Fashanu, the persistent need to shore up the offensive line each and every season of his tenure has forced the team to forgo playmakers in recent drafts, like Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The consequences of that short-term thinking rippled through the offense.

Defensively, the Jets’ depth issues were exposed this season. Injuries to key players like Jermaine Johnson and C.J. Mosley, coupled with Haason Reddick‘s holdout and underperforming free agent signings like Javon Kinlaw, have exposed a Jets defensive line that was once considered the best in the league.

Speaking of free agent signings, his mismanagement of the salary cap further hindered the team’s ability to build a winning roster. It’s how the Jets ended up trading John Franklin-Myers, who is sorely missed on their defensive line and forced to hand out incentive-laden contracts in free agency.

The amount of dead money the Jets have attributed to players not on their roster who were either drafted or signed by Douglas is inexcusable.

While Orlovsky touted Douglas’ drafting record, which includes players like Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, there’s more to the draft than hitting on your high draft picks. Draft success isn’t solely measured by how well a team does at the top of the board; it’s about finding consistent contributors across multiple rounds, something Douglas failed to do time and time again across his tenure.

Douglas’s drafts yielded only a handful of impact players in six years, leaving the Jets scrambling to fill gaps through free agency. This reliance on stopgap solutions led to a string of poor decisions, from overpaying veterans to taking fliers on bounce-back candidates, all in an effort to patch holes, a product of Douglas’ own doing.

It’s a never-ending cycle.

And hitting on, say, a dozen players in six years is an extremely poor return on investment, especially for a general manager heralded for his scouting prowess. But it’s a reality that overshadows a drafting record that media pundits have leaned on in their full-court defense of Douglas.

Douglas’ shortcomings don’t absolve Woody Johnson of his role in the Jets’ never-ending dysfunction.

Johnson has and will continue to undermine the franchise at every turn. But Douglas wasn’t just a victim of these dynamics; he was an active participant in a flawed system. While those coming to his defense may point to what many viewed as a Super Bowl-contending roster, the results are what the results are.

As Bill Parcells once said, “You are what your record says you are.”

And Douglas, 30-64, had his chances but never capitalized on them.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann