Quote:
Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich
I read the ESPN piece and the quote was 'there was never a good time to do this'
I am by no means an NFL expert of even a fan. But even I know the worst time to do it was after you let the GM conduct the draft and a good portion of free agency.
Wow
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While I do believe the Jets bungled the timing, I disagree with the above narrative. The Bills did the same a few years ago with Doug Whaley, and the Chiefs as well with Jon Dorsey, all to little fanfare, because there's few things the American sports media loves more than ragging on the Jets. In some cases (not the Jets' case), it's better to let a GM run through a draft before firing them because a new front office has to play significant catch-up to get prepped for the draft otherwise (Dave Gettleman said he wasn't comfortable picking a quarterback last draft for the Giants because of this, for example).
I'd be fine with the move if it didn't come following a massive spending spree. Maccagnan has done little to inspire hope for the team during his tenure, with his only real good draft picks coming high in the draft. If the reports are true, and Christopher Johnson waited this long after the draft solely because he wanted the rumors of this very occurrence to die down first, that's probably what I find the worst part of it. If you're gonna do it, do it; no point in stringing the guy along and telling him the rumors are untrue just to turn around and fire him anyways, it's slimy imo.
I believe it's definitely possible that Johnson wasn't 100% on this decision post-draft, and Gase eventually convinced him. It makes perfect sense from Gase's standpoint; I don't see the Jets going better than 8-8 this year, and missing the playoffs would have meant a GM change then, which would have most likely cost Gase his job after one season and significantly hurt his chances of landing another head coaching gig. I do find it pretty shocking the team is throwing so much support behind Gase though. While I'm a much bigger fan of him than most, at the end of the day he's only been in the organization a couple months, so for the team to already let him run a GM out of town, give him unwarranted power, and reportedly be seeking a replacement he approves of is surprising.