The news of Joe Douglas’ dismissal from the New York Jets becomes ever more comical.
Most recently, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports added more detail to the moments before Douglas was fired.
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According to Glazer, Jets owner Woody Johnson arrived at the Jets’ practice in his helicopter that morning. Douglas turned to interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich and joked, “If they pull me off the practice field, it’s been an honor to serve with you.”
And then — Douglas was pulled off the practice field.
The embattled former Jets general manager was said to be “relieved” about his firing, going fishing on the Jersey Shore shortly thereafter. Already during the offseason, he voiced that Johnson should just fire him then after the owner overruled many of his desired personnel moves.
With Douglas and Robert Saleh out and Aaron Rodgers reportedly possibly soon to follow (either on injured reserve or out of the organization altogether), the Jets are attempting to turn over a new leaf. How they propose to do so when bombshell reports about their owner’s meddling continue to leak remains to be seen.
Current rumors indicate that the Jets are gathering former sports executives to help in their search for a new general manager. The Commanders followed that route when they hired longtime former NFL executive Rick Spielman and former Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers to help their search last offseason.
The Jets do not, however, plan on bringing in an independent consulting firm. Until the end of the season, they sit in limbo, able only to cull together a list of possible candidates but not to interview any of them.
That’s what made the timing of Douglas’ firing somewhat odd, but it would have been uncomfortable for the Jets to be looking for Douglas’ replacement while he was still with the team. That was one small humiliation Douglas was spared over the last year-plus.
