Joe Douglas may be in his final weeks as Jets general manager.
Douglas is not under contract until 2025.
The team is 30-62 in his six seasons with the team, including 3-6 this year.
Coach Robert Saleh, who was appointed in 2021, was fired after five games this season.
All of these things taken together are not good for Mr. Douglas's job security.
Douglas spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since the start of the season.
He was asked if he was worried about his future.
“I come here every day and I want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and get to its destination. What happens is what happens,” Douglas said. .
The Jets have never won more than seven games in a season since Douglas took over in 2019.
He's had some good moments, including the 2022 draft and some free agent signings, but he's also had some good moments, like the 2022 draft and some free agent signings, but he's also been drafted No. 2 overall by Zach Wilson, the 2020 and 2021 drafts, and some free agent misses. There were some terrible moments, too.
“We've never had a winning season,” Douglas said. “We're sitting here from 3 to 6. There's a lot of frustration. Obviously, it starts with me. Looking back, there's a lot of things I could have done better. It happened four weeks ago. When a situation like this happens, there are many moments of introspection about what we could have done better to prevent it from happening. We have a chance to change that narrative in this final game. .”
Over the past month, it has felt like owner Woody Johnson has taken over the reins of the team from Douglas.
There were some big moves that left Johnson's mark.
The first was the decision to fire Saleh, which Johnson said was his decision alone.
Douglas and Saleh have such a close relationship that it is unlikely that Douglas would have suggested the manager be sacked after five games.
Douglas declined Wednesday to comment on Saleh's firing.
“I'm not going to go into the details of the conversations that happened before or after that,” Douglas said. “Again, Woody and I talk every day. At the end of the day, I think Colin Powell said in another arena, 'I'm serving the owner at his pleasure.' 's only goal is to help this team reach its championship goal. ”
The Jets don't feel like they're close to a championship given the way the season started.
They snapped a five-game losing streak with a 21-13 win over the Texans last week.
They now travel to face Arizona on Sunday, looking to make an unlikely playoff berth.
“Obviously, no one expected us to be in a position where we're 3-6 coming out of training camp,” Douglas said. “But what I think about after Thursday night's game is the way that game ended, the way we fought in the second half. [interim coach Jeff Ulbrich] He sent a great message to the team on Monday. “Guys, none of it started out the way we wanted, but we still have everything in front of us.'' All the goals we want to achieve are still in front of us. ”
Douglas acquired wide receiver Davante Adams in a major trade last month.
He made one more move before Tuesday's trade deadline, shipping Mike Williams to the Steelers.
Douglas signed Williams to a one-year, $10 million contract this offseason. Douglas said Williams missed spring training and training camp as he returned from ACL surgery, which hurt him.
“Not being able to go to OTAs, not being able to participate in the majority of training camp, we really couldn't be in sync,” Douglas said. “This is a great opportunity for him to get a fresh start. He wouldn't have made this move if he didn't have good feelings for the guys in the room. Getting a player like Davante will help the team. If you want to be aggressive to get a guy like Mike, it gives you the flexibility to be able to do that, and having two elite receivers is something Allen feels 100 percent right off the bat. This is a great opportunity for a man like you who will definitely come back. [Xavier Gipson] and [Malachi] Corey. I think I'm really happy with the depth of the room. ”
