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Jets consultant Rick Spielman announced on his CBS Sports podcast that he is joining the Jets front office as a senior football advisor.
It’s the same role Phil Savage had with the prior administration.
Now some people will say this is a bad optic because Spielman was a consultant during the Jets’ search for a new GM and HC, and now he lands a gig coming out of that.
This argument is somewhat unfair.
First of all, since Spielman was fired as Minnesota Vikings GM in 2021, he really hasn’t been actively looking for another NFL job, instead working as a consultant and in broadcasting at CBS and SiriusXM NFL Radio.
He is enjoying living in Sanibel Island, FL with his wife and six kids.
And anyway, teams are generally looking for younger, less-experienced GMs these days, with Chicago and Tennessee being two examples. So the trend is going against him – many teams value less experience.
Rick is in his 60’s now and had two GM jobs – Miami and Minnesota, and he’s content with his life now, and this new gig works perfectly. He can stay in Sanibel with his family, and fly up to New Jersey from Fort Myers when necessary.
“I don’t need to make the decisions; I don’t want to make the decisions anymore,” Spielman said on his podcast. “I really don’t. I had my day in the sun — the good and the bad. What I enjoy the most is sharing experiences.”
So this job gets him back in the game, but on his terms, and he doesn’t have to uproot his family. I can tell you from being around a lot of former GMs and coaches, the broadcast thing is okay, but there is nothing like being in the game.
I’m not saying Rick didn’t enjoy broadcasting, but it’s not the same as being with a team.
And with the Jets hiring a 39-year-old GM, Spielman will be a huge help to Darren Mougey in his reworking of the Jets personnel department.
“Right now, my biggest project is trying to rebuild the football operation side of things,” Spielman said. “There’s a lot of changes going on up there. I kind of feel honored and privileged that they called me to be part of it going forward.”
So this isn’t a case of somebody taking advantage of a consultant role to land an NFL job. When people see something like this happen, some of reminded of when George Bush hired Dick Cheney to help him find a VP, and the job ended up going to Cheney.
This is more of a case of this happening organically. In working with Spielman during the HC/GM interviews, they took a liking to the former NFL GM, and decided he would work well in the role Savage held under Joe Douglas as a senior advisor.
“Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey are the final decision-makers,” Spielman said of the new coach and GM, respectively. “I’m just there as their sounding board.”
And a heck of a sounding board, this guy has seen it all in his 32 years in NFL player personnel.
He will help Mougey make decisions on his scouting staff and also aid in player personnel decisions.
One of the Jets’ first hires under the new regime was Denver Broncos scout Rob Paton.
Yes, Mougey worked with him in Denver, but keep in mind that when Spielman was in Minnesota, Rob’s uncle, George Paton, was Spielman’s right-hand man for many years, before leaving to become Broncos GM in 2021.
So Spielman’s and Patons are like family.
It’s hard to find anything to criticize about the Spielman hire.
The move shows that Mougey isn’t coming in as a 39-year-old GM who thinks he has all the answers – he is willing to lean on a sage advisor like Spielman.
February 7, 2025
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