Acme Packing Company
The floodgates are opening on Rodgers era Jets stories
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson suggested that the team bench quarterback Aaron Rodgers after the team’s 2-2 start to the season. Citing three sources, Russini and Rosenblatt’s joint report claimed that on the Monday after the Jets’ loss to the Denver Broncos, New York’s top decision-makers — including the now-fired head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas — met and Johnson suggested that the team turn to backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor as “Rodgers’ performance was holding the team back.”
Ultimately, Saleh and Douglas convinced Johnson to keep Rodgers on the field. The former Green Bay Packer was under center the next week when the team took a trip to London. They lost to the Minnesota Vikings overseas, leading to Saleh being fired just two days after the game without the approval of Douglas.
Douglas was fired on Tuesday, which makes the timing of this report interesting. Now that everyone in New York knows that the Jets are going to clean house, expect to hear a lot about what failed within the organization, as no one is attempting to save face any longer.
The whole London aspect of this story can’t be overlooked, either. As it was reported at the time, Johnson wanted to look good in front of many of his friends in the United Kingdom, where he previously served as America’s ambassador under Donald Trump. Now that Trump has won his second presidential election, the assumption is that Johnson will again abandon his post as the Jets’ owner to return to that ambassador role for the next four years.
Johnson’s ties to the United Kingdom not only could have been a factor in the suggestion of benching Rodgers going into the international week, but it could be why the Jets are starting their general manager search early, too. If Johnson is gone by January, when the majority of general managers are hired, he’ll need to start getting a headstart on his list of candidates before he’s tied up in diplomatic duties.
In the meantime, the Jets named Phil Savage, who has only had the final say on one roster — the Alliance of American Football’s Arizona Hotshots in 2019 — in the last 15 years as their general manager. Savage spent 2012 through 2018 as the Senior Bowls’ executive director and hasn’t held a full-time front office position in the NFL since 2012, when he was a player personnel executive with the Philadelphia Eagles. Savage also served as the Cleveland Browns’ senior vice president and general manager from 2005 to 2008, where he accumulated a 24-40 record.
Since 2019, Savage has worked with the Jets as an advisor under Douglas.
