The New York Jets retained The 33rd Team to assist in their hiring process this offseason. That means two former general managers will help Woody Johnson find his next one.
Mike Tannenbaum’s name has been mentioned a lot during this process. The former Jets GM is going to be involved in the process as a founder of The 33rd Team and, of course, a former employee of Woody. But former Vikings GM Rick Spielman’s recent history could give us a better idea of how this will play out.
2024 Washington Commanders GM Search
Last offseason, with a brand new owner in Josh Harris, the Washington Commanders looked for outside help to run their general manager search. They retained Spielman and former NBA executive Bob Myers.
They ran what they called a “thorough but rapid” search. It was so quick that it took just four days. The Commanders had fired their head coach and began their process on January 8. They had hired their new general manager, Adam Peters, on January 12.
They asked to interview just five candidates, with four coming in for interviews. They eventually hired Peters, a move that has seemingly turned the franchise around on a dime.
So what does that mean for the New York Jets? Well, why don’t we first take a look at the candidates that they brought in?
The Candidates
Given that the NFL executive landscape doesn’t change much year to year, it would not be a surprise if Spielman advised the team to request to interview the same candidates as Washington last year, those being the following.
Ian Cunningham, Bears Assistant General Manager
Cunningham is the name to watch here. He was the runner-up in the Commanders’ process last year and is considered the top general manager prospect in the sport according to The Athletic’s NFL agent survey conducted just before the start of the season.
Cunningham’s top two traits, according to agents who voted for him, are things that would make Jets fans swoon. First, he was labeled as a “great talent evaluator.” Second, he was praised for knowing how to find “young evaluators and thinkers to build up his staff.” You want to reset a culture? Bringing in new talent in the front office is just as important as on the field.
The more worrying news, at least for Jets fans, is his background. Cunningham’s resume reads very similar to Joe Douglas’. He worked for the Ravens for eight years before jumping to the Eagles for four and eventually the Bears as GM in 2022. In fact, Cunningham worked directly under Douglas as assistant director of player personnel for the Eagles while Douglas was vice president of player personnel.
Even if Cunningham is perhaps the best candidate for the job, would Woody sign off on hiring a candidate with not only a near identical resume but with ties directly to the GM he just fired? That’s probably a tough sell.
Glenn Cook, Browns Assistant General Manager
Cook is one of the youngest candidates on this list. Not even 40 yet, Cook’s name has been mentioned in GM searches for years now. Washington is one team that showed interest, but the Titans, Vikings, and Bears also interviewed him.
He’s been the Browns’ assistant GM since 2020, taking the role when Andrew Berry got the GM job. Prior to that, Cook was the assistant director of pro scouting for the Browns from 2016-19.
Where things get interesting is that prior to working with the Browns, Cook was a scout for the Green Bay Packers from 2012-15, meaning he was part of the scouting team that drafted current Jet WR Davante Adams in 2014. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Cook had a relationship with not only Adams but also Aaron Rodgers.
If the Jets are looking to potentially find a way to keep Rodgers around and give him one more shot at this thing, Cook may be the guy. After all, no GM candidate would know Rodgers and Adams better than a guy who drafted the latter.
Alec Halaby, Eagles Assistant General Manager
Halaby is an interesting candidate in that his background isn’t necessarily in talent evaluation or salary cap maneuvering like most. Instead, Halaby, a Harvard graduate, has focused on, as the Eagles put it, “emphasis on integrating traditional and analytical methods in decision-making.”
Some NFL teams have started approaching things from a more analytic perspective. The Cleveland Browns, for instance, turned their franchise around by following the analytics and logic of MLB. That has since crumbled due to the poor decision to trade for and extend Deshaun Watson, but it initially brought them back to relevance for the first time since they returned to the NFL.
Halaby has spent all 17 years of his career with the Eagles. He rose from a data analyst role to being Howie Roseman’s right-hand man. While his main focus is still analytics, he’s also spent time and held jobs in player evaluation and cap management.
Unlike Cunningham, Halaby never worked under Joe Douglas. He has only worked under Howie Roseman. When Roseman was removed from football decisions, Halaby left with him and worked on cap and analytics. When Roseman was brought back to the top job, Halaby came with him and earned a promotion. The two have been inseparable.
Halaby certainly isn’t the typical GM candidate. His background is not really in football in the same way it would be for a scouting guy. It’s not in cap management, either. He’s in between, having worked all jobs while supporting Roseman and doing so with analytics always at the forefront.
Is advanced analytics to future of the NFL? It hasn’t been yet, even as the NBA and MLB have gone hard that way. Will that change? If it does, is Halaby going to be part of the reason why? If it doesn’t, would Halaby be a huge mistake? Perhaps that risk is why Halaby’s right-hand man has yet to leave Philadelphia for a GM role of his own.
Will McClay, Cowboys VP of Player Personnel
Will McClay is the football guy here. A former Arena Football League player, McClay built his career in the AFL and NFL simultaneously. From 2004-08, McClay was both the head coach of the Dallas Desperados and a pro scout for the Dallas Cowboys.
Over the years, McClay has worked his way up in Jerry’s world and is considered the top executive in that building whose last name isn’t Jones. Teams have been after McClay for GM interviews for years now. He’s held his current role in Dallas since 2017. But McClay has stood firm that he has no intention of leaving the Cowboys. He is the only candidate on this list who was requested by Washington last year but declined to interview for the position.
Here’s the twist though, McClay’s contract in Dallas is up. By his own admission last offseason, “I am committed to being here. The commitment I made to my son and the organization. I’m going to roll with it. I have another year left on my contract.”
At the time of this writing, McClay has not yet signed an extension to remain with the Cowboys – at least, not one that’s been publicly announced. As a result, one of the top GM candidates in the league may finally be willing to take interviews with other teams.
The bad news for him is that it would come after the Cowboys’ worst season in a long time. Will that hurt him if he does decide to enter the interview circuit?
Brandon Sosna, Commanders SVP of Football Operations
This is a bonus candidate. Sosna did not interview for the Commanders’ GM job last year, nor has he interviewed for any GM job. However, the 32-year-old is considered one of the fastest-rising executives in the NFL.
Sosna’s background is on the administrative side. He’s worked for two organizations that have seen massive culture shifts in recent years, serving as the senior director of football administration for the Lions from 2022-23 and joining the Commanders in 2024 as their senior vice president of football operations.
Not only is Sosna considered a rising star who’s helped bring significant culture shifts to two organizations, but he also has ties to some of the top head coaching candidates in this cycle. Sosna has worked with Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, and Kliff Kingsbury.
What about the head coach search?
This is where things will likely differ. After hiring Adam Peters as general manager, the Commanders were happy to let him run his own head coach search, which eventually led to the hire of Dan Quinn a little more than two weeks later.
Woody Johnson usually doesn’t approach the hiring process that way. Instead, he prefers to have both the head coach and general manager report to him, rather than the head coach report to the general manager. That only changed when Chris Johnson put Joe Douglas in charge of the search for Robert Saleh and had Saleh report to Douglas. Woody doesn’t take that approach.
Yes, it’s true that Woody is likely to leave to resume a role in politics. However, that’s not likely to happen until after the general manager and head coach searches have concluded. So, it’ll likely be done his way.
Perhaps The 33rd Team can convince him otherwise. But it’d be a break from history if Woody allowed the GM he hires to control and run the HC search. Will that be a problem? It could be for potential GM candidates if they won’t be allowed to do their job, as The Athletic reported was the case for Douglas, with Woody running the team.
Without a top GM, it’s hard to see how they attract a top HC. It’s also hard to understand why a head coach candidate would want to take a job where they don’t know who’s going to be making the roster decisions or if their thoughts on the roster will be taken into consideration.
Basically, if Woody isn’t willing to cede control to his newly hired GM, it could blow everything up, even if Spielman and Tannenbaum do everything they can to set him up for success.
