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A number of NFL and team insiders weighed in with rumors about the Jets’ general manager search today.
Adam Schefter says the #Jets will not hire Peyton Manning and that Joe Douglas is their main target pic.twitter.com/b9cimktN7W
— NYK-NYJ-NYY-4LIFE (@knicksjets4life) May 20, 2019
From Up to the Minute Live: The #Jets GM search is going to kick into gear with requests and interviews expected this week... but no, the plans do not involve Peyton Manning at this point. pic.twitter.com/63PbraAwvQ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 20, 2019
- By most accounts, Joe Douglas is the Jets’ preferred candidate as the search begins. I think hiring a respected professional like Douglas would be a positive development and perhaps the first step on the road back to respectability for this franchise. At this time Douglas’ interest level is unclear. There are obvious positives and negatives about this opening, but this is a smart guy to target.
- Ian Rapoport’s statement that the general manager will be given final say over the 53 man roster is another positive development. It is necessarily to give the general manager this control, but I think this alone is not sufficient. I firmly believe the next general manager needs to be empowered to take total control over football operations, and the Johnson brothers need to remove themselves.
- Both Rapoport and Adam Schefter say Peyton Manning will not be the team’s next general manager. A Manning hiring would be difficult for me to rationalize. This job seems too big for a total blank slate, and Manning’s biggest asset is name recognition. I’m not against outside the box thinking. Nor do I think Manning needs to start as an entry level junior scout if he wants to pursue a front office career. With that said, I can’t imagine hiring Peyton Manning as a general manager at this point would be anything more than a publicity stunt. Almost all of the heavy lifting of the job would likely have to be delegated to somebody else. If Peyton Manning wants to be a general manager, he would be best served getting a lower profile job in a front office rather than starting at the top. History has shown us that being a great player does not necessarily translate to the front office.
Adam Gase also spoke to the press today. He denied any claim that he has increased his power within the organization.
Adam Gase on the perception of him winning a power struggle over former GM Mike Maccagnan said, "I disagree with that, as far as a power struggle."
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) May 20, 2019
Adam Gase to reporters today, reacting to last wk’s GM firing: “I disagree as far as (it being a) power struggle. ...(C Johnson) is the owner. He told me (about Macc firing). I work for him.” Also: Gase doesn’t want control of roster: “Nothing’s changing in that structure.” #Jets
— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) May 20, 2019
Gase added, "Whoever is getting hired is going to have the same role, like control of the roster, control of the 53. I will coach the football team. That’s what I'm going to do. Nothing is changing in that structure."
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) May 20, 2019
In other news, Adam Gase is one of the leading voices in the search for a new general manager.
The Jets general manager search will be driven by three people:
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) May 20, 2019
1) CEO Christopher Johnson
2) Adam Gase (HC/interim GM)
3) Hymie Elhai (VP, business affairs/general counsel)
Others will be consulted, but those three will be the main players.