Of course, it’s far from ideal for the owner to act as the defacto GM and make personnel decisions.
“They traded a third-round pick for Davante Adams, I’m told reliably that nobody wanted to do that other than Woody (Johnson), but Woody is running it,” said former NFL GM Michael Lombardi on VSIN.
The best approach is to hire a GM and head coach and let them do their thing, which is the case in places like Kansas City, Baltimore and San Francisco, to name a few.
But with that being said, why did it take Johnson to force the benching of a defensive player last week when the defense has been underachieving?
Where were the coach and former GM?
ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote:
“Johnson had become increasingly meddlesome in personnel matters, multiple people close to the situation said. It was Johnson who demanded the benching of safety Tony Adams for last Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.”
Okay, so some people say the owner shouldn’t do that? But why did it take him to make a lineup change after the Jets’ defensive debacle in Glendale?
How come the current coach, the former coach, and the former GM seemingly never benched or cut anybody from the team’s embarrassing defense this season?
During their bye week, the Seattle Seahawks, who were struggling on defense, cut starting linebacker Tyrell Dodson, their leading tackler (tackle totals can be misleading).
Some people think Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is too soft, but last week he cut former starting linebacker David Long, and when asked about the move said: “You’re entitled to nothing in this world. Playing time is solved by players on the field and the best players have to play and that’s my job to follow through with that.”
When was the last time the Jets enforced a philosophy like that?
So once again, Woody needs to hire a GM and head coach, throw them the car keys, and let them do their thing.
But he better hire a coach/GM combo willing to bench and cut guys not getting the job done.
It’s called accountability.
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