Should Jets fans trust GM Joe’s Super vision?
Joe Douglas rolled out a few talking points, predictably played the underdog card and stretched veracity as far as he could with the hope that a frustrated Jets fanbase will blindly trust him.
An offseason filled with tumult unofficially ended Monday after Douglas set the roster in the run-up to the regular season.
“I’m not going to be happy until we win a Super Bowl,” Douglas said in his virtual press briefing six days before the Jets kick off the season on the road against the Bills.
Douglas orchestrated a series of moves in the past six months that reveal the obvious: The Jets are punting on the 2020 season with the hope of making significant moves in 2021.
The GM tried to rally his troops with us-against-theworld platitudes in the face of a widely held belief that the Jets simply aren’t good enough to break their nine-year playoff drought.
“Our guys don’t live in a bubble,” Douglas said. “We see the things that are said. We see the things that are written. It angers a lot of people…. There were good players that were on this team last year that aren’t playing this year. But just going through this camp, I can tell you that there’s some guys on this team that may not be household names, but they’re good football players. And their missionistogooutandbecomea household name.”
It’s hardly Douglas’ fault that he inherited a roster that needed upgrades. He was in the precarious position of watching a team that he didn’t assemble have another losing season. Then, he attempted to navigate free agency despite cash-flow restrictions from ownership. The result was predictable. Douglas signed a litany of middling players to oneyear or de facto one-year contracts.
Douglas maintained that “we’re always going to try to upgrade this team, make this team better when the opportunity presents itself,” but eschewed quality options because the cost was too steep to fit the conservative budget set by ownership and the organization’s financial gatekeepers.
GM Joe Douglas insists Jets have a long-term plan.
It’s unfair to blame Douglas because his bosses (and their advisors) gave him a tight budget to work with this offseason, but the rookie GM made his fair share of missteps that exacerbated situations. He fumbled the Jamal Adams contract negotiations even thoughhehadaready-madereason to escape criticism: He just wasn’t given the money by his boss.
Douglas deserves credit for making the best out of a bad situation that he was partly responsible for creating when he landed a pair of first-round picks in trading the All-Pro safety. However, trading Adams — the team’s best player and emotional leader — was a mistake for too many reasons to discuss right now.
The Adams saga was a microcosm of the GM’s poor communication skills all offseason.
People in the organization believed that Douglas was closing in on signing free-agent defensive back Logan Ryan in May. Things went haywire after a DailyNewsstoryonMay12cited team sources that believed Douglas was about to land Ryan. The general manager responded to the New story by curiously halting talks for an extended period of time, according to people in the organization.
By the time the Jets circled back months later to attempt to re-start talks, Ryan’s mind was made up: He wanted no parts of Douglas or the Jets anymore. Ryanwantedtosignwithastable franchise and a coach that he
was familiar with. So, he reunited with Giants head coach Joe Judge, who was on the Patriots with him for four years.
Only two teams have more than the Jets’ $31.3 million in salary cap space. Gang Green freed up more cash in the past five weeks after C.J. Mosley opted out, offensive lineman BrianWinterswascutandlinebacker Avery Williamson took a massive pay cut.
But the Jets spent none of it, choosing to sit on the cash and cap space to roll over to next season.
“Our mindset is (if ) there’s the right player, the right opportunity,” Douglas said. “I’m not bound (by) any restrictions when it comes to ownership…. I’m sure it may seem like we’re not doing that right now, but we do have a vision and plan.”
There’s no mystery with that plan. It’s as clear as day. Wait until 2021.
“In terms of cap space, basically we see it as a dollar you spendtodaycouldbeadollaryou don’t have for next year’s cap,” Douglas said before lamenting the uncertainty of next year’s cap that has a $175 million floor.
Douglas’ supporters in the organization hope that his communication skills will improve with experience.
Some close to him have conceded the aforementioned shortcomings, but insist that his missteps behind the scenes this offseason can be corrected. It’s fair to give Douglas more time to learn from his mistakes.
For the time being, Jets fans have no choice but to hope he does.