The Jets are headed to their 14th straight season without a playoff berth, and their Robert Saleh-Joe Douglas The unraveling of the regime indicates that it will become more difficult to fill the positions of the HC and GM companies in 2025.

Woody JohnsonThe Jets’ interference has become a problem. The longtime owner admitted that he bypassed Douglas to fire Saleh, something that led to the sixth-year GM losing power during his final weeks on the job. Other Jets power brokers led the way in the Davante Adams trade and Haason Reddick resolution conversations. Earlier this year, however, Johnson was a roadblock to Douglas’ efforts to improve the team’s roster in other ways.

We learned in March that the Jets were joining the Browns and Patriots in the chase Jerry Jeudy. The then-Broncos wide receiver, a trading block next to ex-teammate Courtland Suttonwent to Cleveland for the fifth and sixth rounds. If Douglas had had his way, Denver might have gotten more for the former first-round pick.

It is believed the Jets have offered a Day 2 pick Allen Lazard — a 2023 Broncos target — for Jeudy, according to Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, only to see Johnson complete every possible deal. Entering his age-25 season, Jeudy intrigued the Jets, who looked to avoid aging players in this year’s free agency (subscription required). That didn’t end up happening, like Tyron Smith And Mike Williams joined in raising the trade Morgan Moses to join the Jets in March.

It would have been interesting if the Broncos were willing to acquire Lazard, who was still owed a fully guaranteed base salary ($10 million) this year. Lazard was disappointed after receiving $22 million guaranteed at signing in 2023. Denver eventually gave in Josh Reynolds a two-year, $9 million deal; Lazard would have been more expensive. Jeudy, who would have joined Garrett Wilson and possibly influenced the Jets’ interest in Adams, has since signed a Browns extension.

Weeks later, Douglas signed to acquire Reddick, despite warnings from his camp that the Jets should not trade for the talented edge rusher unless they wanted to extend him. It turns out that Douglas seemed more open to an extension than he initially let on. Reddick had expressed frustration with the Jets, believing they would revisit expansion talks. Douglas may have been on board with this, according to The Athletic, which attributes the resistance to expanding the then-29-year-old EDGE to Johnson. Even when Johnson helped Reddick get started in October, he certainly appears to have prevented his then-GM from extending him this offseason.

Before the Jets targeted Reddick, they allowed it Bryce Huff walk. Huff joined the Eagles on a three-year deal worth $51 million, but if Douglas had had his way, the team might have made a bigger push to re-sign the team’s sack leader for 2023. Johnson is believed to have dissuaded his GM from making an extension offer to Huff, who was pursued by many teams when the Jets put him on the market. At the beginning of February we heard that no offer had been made. This came months after Johnson allegedly prevented his GM from making a bigger push for a replacement Aaron Rodgers once the QB suffered an Achilles tendon tear.

Johnson also made an effort to have safety Tony Adams on the bench in Week 11, with Russini and Rosenblatt reinforcing the idea that the owner has placed too much stock in his team’s ratings on social media. Rumors recently pointed out that Johnson listened to too many non-football staffers when making decisions. Several high-ranking Jets football ops staffers were also fired this offseason, along with assistant GMs Rex Hogan fired and then director of player personnel Chad Alexander becoming the Chargers’ assistant GM. Johnson prevented Douglas from replacing either staffer, Russini and Rosenblatt added. (For what it’s worth, some in the organization believed that Hogan was responsible for many of the spills; although in the months since, a flood of leaks have come to light.) The owner’s actions led Douglas to rail against some remaining Jets staffers to say Johnson should “just fire.” me now.”

He is also believed to have pushed for the Jets to bench Rodgers after the team’s Week 4 loss to the Broncos — to the point where, according to The Athletic, a coach asked if the owner was serious — Johnson will have a lot to answer for after this hugely disappointing Jets season.

The Jets are expected to part ways with Rodgers, who coaches feared would be embarrassed if Johnson had his way with the benching request. After all, Johnson played a key role in Rodgers agreeing to delay his retirement and agree to a Jets trade last year. Chair him Tyrod Taylor so early in his Achilles comeback would have been one of the most shocking developments in recent NFL history.

This increased interference won’t make it easier for the owner to find high-quality GM and HC options in 2025, but even with the former ambassador to the United Kingdom in the mix to reclaim that post under Donald’s second administration Trump (a step that would go away again Christopher Johnson as acting owner), Woody Johnson will lead the Jets’ search to replace Saleh and Douglas.