INDIANAPOLIS — Joe Douglas is entering his sixth season as the Jets general manager. Only Mike Tannenbaum, who held the job for seven seasons, has had a longer run with the team this century.
The Jets’ record is 27-56 with Douglas in charge and they have missed the playoffs in all five of his years on the job.
Douglas knows that 2024 is now or never for him.
“We haven’t won enough,” Douglas said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “That’s obvious.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson put Douglas and coach Robert Saleh on notice a few days before the Super Bowl, saying, “This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year. We have to produce this year.”
That puts pressure on Douglas unlike any he has faced before.
There is pressure every year and every day for NFL GMs, but Douglas had one of the longest honeymoons an executive in this town has ever had. The honeymoon is long over and he now needs to save the marriage by winning some games.
Douglas has been cut a lot of slack on the job. He took over in June 2019 and did not get to put his fingerprints on the 2019 team, so he was not really blamed for any issues that year. The following year, coach Adam Gase was blamed for everything. That led to a reset and the hiring of Saleh and the drafting of Zach Wilson to be the new franchise quarterback. Douglas was given a pass for 2021 with a rookie coach and quarterback. In 2022, there was pressure on him to get two top-10 picks right and he did with Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson, respectively, being named defensive and offensive rookies of the year. Last season was all about Aaron Rodgers, whom Douglas acquired in April, and he and Saleh basically got a mulligan after Rodgers went down four plays into the season.
But there are no more mulligans, no more free passes.
Douglas knows this. The pressure is on for him to fix the offensive line, an area he has devoted resources to but has failed to find the solution. He now needs to find three new starters. He also needs to add another weapon to the offense and secure a backup quarterback in case the 40-year-old Rodgers goes down again.
The Jets have to at least make the playoffs in 2024 for Douglas to be back at the scouting combine next year as the Jets GM. He knows he has to deliver.
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“The pressure is always intrinsic in this job whenever you walk in every day,” Douglas said. “But I can tell you we’re not stressed. We’re prepared to answer the bell here with the decisions that have to be made moving forward.”
The truth is Douglas has done plenty of good things on the job. He fleeced Seattle in the Jamal Adams trade and that resulted in Alijah Vera-Tucker and Garrett Wilson, two pieces of their core. He has added key free agents like D.J. Reed and Tyler Conklin, who have been meaningful contributors. There is a better culture inside the locker room than before he came.
The biggest miss is Zach Wilson, a pick that set his program back. Douglas was smart enough to move on after two seasons and go get Rodgers. He made the mistake of keeping Wilson as the backup. Beyond the Wilson blunder, his drafts outside of 2022 have been underwhelming with some big misses in Mekhi Becton, Denzel Mims and Elijah Moore.
The only general managers in New York who have been on the job longer than Douglas are Brian Cashman, Sean Marks and Lou Lamoriello. Cashman and Lamoriello have championships on their résumé and Marks must have photos of someone.
There usually is not much patience for executives and coaches in New York. Douglas has been given plenty, but patience has run out.
“We just have to go out and do it,” Douglas said. “It’s time to win. Everybody knows it. It’s time to put our heads down, work and win games.”
That playoff push begins now with Douglas’ work in improving this roster. He is out of wiggle room. It is get it right or else.