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NBC Sports
The Jets are tearing everything down after a 4-12 season.
Shortly after word broke that the team fired coach Rex Ryan, the Jets made an official announcement that Ryan would not return to the team for a seventh season. That announcement also included the news that General Manager John Idzik has been relieved of his duties after two years with the team.
Neither move is a surprise. It’s the fourth straight year that Ryan has missed the playoffs and he had little chance to do anything other than disappoint this season thanks to the undermanned roster he was provided by Idzik. Idzik did a fine job cleaning up the salary cap mess he inherited from former G.M. Mike Tannenbaum, but he failed to address major needs at cornerback and wide receiver while sitting on ample cap space. Coming up empty on immediate contributors despite adding 12 players to the roster in the 2014 draft didn’t help Idzik nor did fan protests that led to billboard and banners in the sky urging owner Woody Johnson to pull the plug.
And, of course, the Jets never found the quarterback that any NFL team needs to contend in this era. How much Geno Smith’s struggles were exacerbated by playing early with a weak supporting cast is a question worth debating, but neither Smith’s play nor the potentially mitigating circumstances reflects well on the job that Idzik’s done over the last two years.
The Jets have retained the services of former NFL exec Charley Casserly and former Packers G.M. Ron Wolf to advise Johnson as they try to find a coach/G.M. combination that can return them to the right side of .500 in 2015 and beyond.