The New York Jets firing coach Robert Saleh five games into the season is really not that surprising when you think about the strange decisions the organization has made since GM Joe Douglas called the Green Bay Packers last year to begin trade discussions for Aaron Rodgers.
Obviously, the Jets made several head-scratching decisions long before Rodgers arrived, which makes this job opening one of the worst in the NFL, but more on that in a bit. It was a major red flag that the partnership of Douglas and Saleh couldn’t produce an ideal situation during two seasons with Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft. Douglas also failed Sam Darnold for two seasons, and we all know how well he’s thriving with the Minnesota Vikings off to a 5–0 start.
The real surprise here is that Douglas is still employed by the Jets, even though the team hasn’t sniffed the postseason since he was hired in 2019. But Jets owner Woody Johnson needs Douglas to execute a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for Davante Adams, and letting go off the GM would signify the team is waiving the white flag on this all-in season with a healthy Rodgers. Instead, the Jets are hoping the firing of Saleh could provide a spark for the team, which is unfair to the now-former head coach in many ways.
Johnson should shoulder most of the blame here. He knew Douglas and Saleh had issues building a quality offense and then handed the keys to a middle-aged quarterback who had plenty of say on and off the field, possibly creating a game of who’s really in charge. Then Johnson gave Douglas and Saleh a pass because Rodgers got hurt after four plays last season and was O.K. with running it back with the same decision-makers.
The time for drastic changes was in the offseason, but let’s discuss the timing of Saleh’s firing to begin this week’s Fact or Fiction, which is all about the drama-filled Jets.
Jets made right decision to fire Saleh now instead of after the season
Manzano’s view: Fact
It was time for Saleh to go because Johnson created this now-or-never season in New York. But it’s a bad look for the organization to make him the scapegoat, especially when his defense was the only positive of the past few seasons.
Saleh, who was hired in 2021, helped develop Quinnen Williams into an All-Pro after a slow start to his career, and did the same with his older brother, Quincy Williams. And Saleh put Sauce Gardner in positions to succeed before he enjoyed one of the greatest rookie seasons ever for a cornerback. Yes, Quinnen Williams and Gardner were talented top-five picks, but the defense played well as a unit, a testament to Saleh’s defensive prowess and why he’ll be a hot commodity as a defensive coordinator.
As a head coach, Saleh struggled in many areas, including late-game situations and the handling of his offenses. Regardless of whether you believe Rodgers is calling the shots on the offensive side, Saleh has coached plenty of games without the four-time MVP and often failed to put the offense in ideal situations, whether it was poor usage of timeouts or ill-advised fourth-down decisions. Saleh probably sat in on many offensive meetings and approved many of the game plans Nathaniel Hackett produced over the last year and a half and Mike LaFleur before him.
Saleh was too much of a specialist and that’s partly why he was fired Tuesday. But Saleh’s weaknesses didn’t just show in five games this season. Johnson should have made this change in the offseason when Jim Harbaugh, Mike Vrabel, Dan Quinn, Raheem Morris and Bill Belichick (yes, I’m aware there’s history there) were available. Johnson was the one who just assumed everything would be fine as long as Rodgers was healthy. But he should know better than any other owner in the league that star quarterbacks tend to regress as they get older. He had Brett Favre in his age-39 season in 2008 when the Jets finished 9–7 and missed the postseason. Rodgers turns 41 in December.
It seems this year’s Jets are headed for a similar outcome because Johnson failed to look ahead and didn’t learn from his past mistakes. He was content for many years with Douglas and Saleh and now suddenly he had an inclination to make a drastic change at the expense of Saleh’s job.
Saleh deserves bulk of the blame for Jets’ offensive struggles
Manzano’s view: Fiction
Perhaps we will find out soon now that Saleh is gone whether he was the one who wanted Hackett to be hired as the Jets’ offensive coordinator. Maybe Saleh did truly view Hackett as the best candidate because of his ties to Rodgers, but wanted him gone after how poorly it went with Wilson after Rodgers tore his Achilles last season and wasn’t allowed to fire Hackett.
The organization just assumed Hackett would be fine as the play-caller with a healthy Rodgers, who was three years older from those back-to-back MVP seasons the duo enjoyed together with the Green Bay Packers. The Jets ignored how poorly it went for Hackett with Russell Wilson, another quarterback who was no longer in his prime, with the Denver Broncos.
And this is not to say that Rodgers is no longer one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but his lack of mobility requires more structured schemes that allow players to break free quicker for a rhythm-and-timing offense. We saw that during the victory against the New England Patriots. That rarely occurred in losses against the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers and Broncos.
The best coaches tend to produce quality game plans under tough circumstances, and Hackett didn’t show that last season with Wilson as the starting quarterback. But Hackett is still calling plays with Rodgers and Saleh is no longer around to work with his standout defense.
Jets will finish with a below .500 record after making this move
Manzano’s view: Fiction
It would be so typical of the Jets if the defense regresses and the offense improves without Saleh, but the end results are still the same.
With a difficult schedule, the Jets’ odds of making the playoffs appear slim, but it could be a down season for the AFC, with the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins fading quickly. A 9–8 record could be enough for the Jets to sneak into the playoffs as a wild-card team, and maybe they have a shot at the AFC East after how poorly the Buffalo Bills have played the past two games.
If the Jets (2–3) beat the Bills (3–2) on Monday night, that could say plenty about which direction this team goes after the Saleh firing. Beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road won’t be easy in Week 7, but they resemble the Jets with a tough defense and low-scoring offense. And the Jets get the Patriots again a week after facing Pittsburgh.
This will be a pivotal three-game stretch for New York and provide even more urgency for Douglas to strike a deal for Adams.
Jets’ HC job is one of the worst in the NFL
Manzano’s view: Fact
There’s an argument to be made that Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix has had less to work with in Denver than Wilson did in three seasons with the Jets.
Nix has had his ups-and-downs, but he has the Broncos at 3–2 and a victory over the Jets in Week 4. It definitely helps that Sean Payton is there to build a complete team—the defense has taken off with defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Quinn has the Washington Commanders at 4–1 with a red-hot rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels. But new GM Adam Peters has been aligned with Quinn’s thinking and added the right players in the offseason for this quick turnaround. And it helps that Dan Snyder is no longer around as the team’s owner.
These are just a few of many examples of the other teams getting more from their young quarterbacks than the Jets did with Darnold and Wilson because they made the right hires that led to winning environments.
Johnson has continued to hire and fire coaches since the postseason drought started in 2010. Adam Gase, Todd Bowles, Saleh and the final four seasons with Rex Ryan have all produced the same results for the struggling Jets.
Maybe Johnson is the real problem for why the Jets have struggled the past 14 seasons and have no real future once Rodgers retires. Perhaps the Jets will make the playoffs this season, but they don’t appear to be true Super Bowl contenders. Will solely ending the playoff drought make it worth it to have gone all-in for Rodgers and stunt their future? All the Jets have done is ignore the real issues that have plagued the organization since Ryan took the Jets to back-to-back AFC championship game appearances.
Once Rodgers retires, Johnson will once again be searching for a quarterback with no track record of building a winning environment. Good luck to the next head coach of the Jets.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Fact or Fiction: Jets’ Coaching Job Is One of the Worst in the League.
