New York Jets General Manager Search: Tom Heckert Cancels Interview

Brian Costello reports former Browns general manager Tom Heckert has cancelled his interview with the Jets.

Tom Heckert has canceled his interview with the Jets #NYJ

There are rumors that Heckert is going to follow Andy Reid to the Kansas City Chiefs. He previously worked with Reid for a time with the Philadelphia Eagles. This might be double good news at it could take John Dorsey out of the running for that job, where he was also linked.

Heckert was pretty clearly a second tier candidate. He is coming off an unsuccessful stint as Browns general manager where the team never won more than five games in a season where he was in charge. Heckert is regarded well in some quarters, but he would have been a very difficult sell to this fanbase, especially with the Jets also interviewing a number of hot general manager candidates over the next few days.

Edit: Costello has more:

Source says Jets salary cap situation scared Heckert away. Had nothing to do with tattoos.#NYJ

Sounds like a cover story and not a very strong one. Aside from Mark Sanchez's contract, you can get all of the bad deals off the books with minimal short-term pain. It's not like there's a situation you are going to walk into and be a contender immediately. Any job you take is probably going to be a rough situation on some level. That's why the job is open. If the old general manager did his job, he would still be there. Something else seems to be going on.