The silver lining of the New York Jets’ colossal failure of a 2024 season is that it allows the franchise to wipe the slate completely clean. In a way, it’s good that New York succumbed to unfathomable hilarity rather than settling for mild disappointment.
A mediocre season could have landed the Jets in purgatory. With another close win or two thanks to a couple more successful field goals, the Jets wouldn’t have been any closer to being a legitimately championship-caliber team, but they might have been just competitive enough to convince Woody Johnson into running it back with Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas, and Aaron Rodgers (or some combination of the three) in 2025. The organization would be riddled with half-measures that would take them nowhere except to another draft pick in the teens, only delaying their inevitable rebuild and wasting the prime years of their core young players.
Instead, the Jets’ total collapse yields a much-needed fresh start in 2025. Saleh and Douglas (along with their sub-.360 win percentages) are already out the door, and all indications are that Rodgers will follow them.
In fact, over the course of their 65-year history, the New York Jets have never had a fresh start quite as fresh as the one they will have in 2025 – if they play their cards right.
New York has never crafted an entirely new Big 3
The way I see it, the “Big 3” of any NFL organization is comprised of the general manager, head coach, and franchise quarterback. This trio determines the success of a team. The GM and HC must have a common vision, and the QB must be someone who embodies that vision and translates it to the field.
Thanks to their implosion in 2024, the Jets were able to see the light and realize that they did not have an answer in any of those three roles (pending Rodgers’ exodus). This means New York has a chance to form a new Big 3 that is entirely aligned on the same timeline – something the franchise has never done before.
If the Jets acquire their hopeful long-term franchise quarterback this offseason – whether it’s a high-investment veteran or an early draft pick (more likely to be the latter) – this will be the first time in franchise history they have acquired a new general manager, new head coach, and new franchise quarterback in the same offseason.
When you look at the list of franchise quarterbacks in Jets history, it’s stunning that New York has never had its Big 3 aligned on the same timeline. Let’s run through the list.
To be clear, I define a “franchise quarterback” as someone who was intended to be the team’s multi-year answer in pursuit of a championship; i.e. stopgap quarterbacks like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh McCown do not count. So, the Jets have not had a franchise quarterback on their roster at all times.
Here are all of the Jets’ franchise quarterbacks and how their timelines aligned with the head coach and general manager.
Aaron Rodgers (Acquired 2023, Franchise QB 2023-24)
- Head coach: Robert Saleh (Hired 2021) ❌
- General manager: Joe Douglas (Hired 2019) ❌
Zach Wilson (Acquired 2021, Franchise QB 2021-22)
- Head coach: Robert Saleh (Hired 2021) ✅
- General manager: Joe Douglas (Hired 2019) ❌
Sam Darnold (Acquired 2018, Franchise QB 2018-20)
- Head coach: Todd Bowles (Hired 2015) ❌
- General manager: Mike Maccagnan (Hired 2015) ❌
Geno Smith (Acquired 2013, Franchise QB 2013-15)
Mark Sanchez (Acquired 2009, Franchise QB 2009-13)
Brett Favre (Acquired 2008, Franchise QB 2008)
Chad Pennington (Acquired 2000, Franchise QB 2000-07)
Neil O’Donnell (Acquired 1996, Franchise QB 1996-97)
Boomer Esiason (Acquired 1993, Franchise QB 1993-95)
Ken O’Brien (Acquired 1983, Franchise QB 1983-92)
Richard Todd (Acquired 1976, Franchise QB 1976-83)
Joe Namath (Acquired 1965, Franchise QB 1965-75)
There you have it. The Jets have never added a new Big 3 all in the same offseason. Clearly, New York’s lack of organizational synergy is an issue that long precedes Woody Johnson.
This could be what the Jets have long been missing
Perhaps this phenomenon is one of the main reasons why the Jets have always been such a star-crossed organization. They have never embraced a reset to the utmost degree. Instead, they have continuously taken half-measures, opting to stick with one prominent figure but cut ties with another, leading to a non-stop cycle of overlap. Philosophies from a past regime are always clashing with philosophies from a new regime. The new regime pushes out the remnants of the old, but at the same time, another new set of philosophies is coming in to push them out. And so the cycle continues.
For a franchise that has long been associated with the word “dysfunction” (never more so than at this current moment), this is a tremendous course-correcting opportunity. It is a chance for New York to enact a full reset and build an entirely new identity from the ground up, achieving congruency that was once foreign to them.
We know the Jets will be hiring a new general manager and head coach, marking their first time doing that since they hired Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles in 2015. Quarterback is the only question mark. As long as the Jets do not punt on making a substantial investment in their QB of the future (i.e. opting to ride out the season with a placeholder veteran starter while not selecting a QB high in the draft), they will check the franchise QB box. With a new HC-GM pairing coming in, it seems likely they will want to get “their guy” at QB, but time will tell.
Need evidence that it pays immense dividends to have your Big 3 aligned? Look no further than the NFL’s greatest active dynasty.
Rewind to December 30, 2012. The Kansas City Chiefs were one of the NFL’s messiest organizations. They had just gone 2-14, marking their 19th consecutive season without a playoff victory. It also marked their fourth season out of six with four wins or less; over this span (2007-12), they had the second-worst record in the NFL at 29-67.
With the franchise in dire straits, the Chiefs did not make a half-baked effort to turn things around. They went for a complete overhaul. Kansas City fired head coach Romeo Crennel one day after the season ended and followed suit with general manager Scott Pioli four days later. The organization responded by hiring Andy Reid as their new head coach, and a few days later, John Dorsey was named their new general manager.
Kansas City did not stop with its two key regime changes. The Chiefs made sure to align their quarterback position with the visions of the new leadership. In February, the Chiefs traded for Alex Smith, investing in him as their new franchise quarterback. Shortly after, they released Matt Cassel, who was their starting quarterback for the past four seasons.
Thus, with a fresh Big 3 in place, a dynasty was born. With the three most important people in the organization all on the same page in terms of their timelines and philosophical fit, the Chiefs had established a new identity in which there was no overlap or conflict.
The 2013 Chiefs went 11-5, a nine-win improvement over 2012. It marked the start of a winning-season streak that has lasted until this day. Across five seasons together (2013-17), the Big 3 of Reid, Dorsey, and Smith led Kansas City to a record of 53-27, the third-best record in the NFL over that span.
Kansas City did not get over the top and become a true championship contender until they swapped Smith for Patrick Mahomes, and even Dorsey (who parted ways with the team in June 2017) did not make it to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parades, but the Big 3 overhaul in 2013 is what established their winning culture in the first place. It transformed Kansas City’s reputation as a franchise and created an environment that allowed them to successfully develop a high-ceiling young quarterback like Mahomes, who, people forget, was viewed as raw enough to fall to the 10th pick. Dorsey acquired many of the key pieces who created the strong infrastructure around Mahomes, while Smith’s stable hand at QB helped Andy Reid establish his offensive system and bring it to a level of sustainability that carried over into Mahomes’ tenure.
The New York Jets have a chance to forge a similar organizational revamp this year. It does not have to be in the same exact fashion as Kansas City; the Jets may go for a young quarterback instead of a veteran like Smith, or target a first-time head coach instead of a second-timer like Reid. No matter how the Jets do it, though, the Chiefs showed the immense value of a harmonious Big 3 shake-up.
While the Jets have undergone some resets in their history, they have never undergone a reset to the fullest degree, and that may be what has been holding them back all this time.
