Shortly after the New York Jets interviewed a promising head coaching candidate, reports indicate that they may have been played for suckers.
On Friday, the Jets brought in Mike Vrabel as a candidate for their open head coach position. For the last few weeks, reports have indicated that Vrabel may be legitimately interested in the Jets’ job.
However, after the Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday, the mask was off: Vrabel’s preference was clearly New England’s head coaching position. According to CBS Sports reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala, Vrabel intentionally scheduled his interview with the Jets before the final day of the season to force Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s hand in firing Mayo.
Jets fans are all too familiar with this stunt from Kirk Cousins’ maneuver in 2018. The Jets made him an aggressive three-year, $90 million, fully guaranteed contract. Cousins promptly took the offer back to the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he was already engaged in talks. They upped their offer to three years and $84 million, and Cousins spurned the Jets for Minnesota.
When a team ails in reputation, it is only natural for them to be used as leverage against other teams. For years, a “Jets tax” was required to lure any potential free agent. It was easy for players to utilize that tax to force other teams to up their bids, even if that player had no intention of coming to the Jets in the first place.
While this time it’s a coach and not a player, the report from Kinkhabwala indicates a similar thought process. Use the Jets’ interview to cause the team he’s really interested in to make their countermove.
Would anything have changed if the Jets had waited until after Black Monday to interview Vrabel? Probably not. Kraft knew the Jets and others (such as the Raiders) were interested in him. But still, the timing of the interview may have given Kraft an extra nudge to act even though Mayo was Bill Belichick’s handpicked successor and just a first-year head coach.
This likely won’t be the last time the Jets get “Cousinsed” this offseason. It may even happen again in their head coaching search. It will continue to occur until the Jets turn around their reputation — which will come from establishing a strong general manager/head coach tandem and returning to relevance again.
Still, the Jets’ new brain trust (whoever they may be) must avoid the temptation to try to prevent being Cousinsed. Former general manager Mike Maccagnan did that by so thoroughly overbidding the market that Le’Veon Bell and C.J. Mosley could not say no. Regardless of Mosley’s leadership, both of those contracts aged like milk left outdoors in the heat.
Rather, they should stay conservative and low-key, building from the bottom up. In fact, they probably shouldn’t even put themselves in a position to be Cousinsed by a player — that is, they should not bid on any free agents at or near the top of the market.
Yes, being used as leverage is endlessly frustrating. But the Jets need to put in the work to avoid that happening. It starts with the head coach and general manager hires. There was nothing much the Jets could do about Vrabel spurning them, but even if it happens again, they must find the best possible candidate who would be willing to join them, and build from there.
