Jets Weirdly Fire GM Mike Maccagnan
For most NFL teams, the post-draft period is one of calm spotlighted by rookie minicamps, signing players and assessing new look rosters in advance of the season. Then there are the New York Jets who today fired the man who crafted that new horizon. GM Mike Maccagnan, along with VP of Player Personnel Brian Heimerdinger, were let go in an odd move only magnified by handing the reins to new Jets head coach Adam Gase who has been named interim GM.
Maccaganan was with the Jets for the past four seasons and an argument could have been made for his ousting in year two given the snail pace of the rebuild. But this offseason was a special one for the Jets. They had almost $200 million in salary cap space, the no. 3 overall pick in the draft, a promising quarterback and a new head coach. Maccagnan made the call on most it, signing free agents Le’Veon Bell and C.J. Mosley to mega-contracts and drafting universally beloved defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to pair with Sam Darnold, who showed much promise during his rookie year. The Jets are still a ways from entering even the same stratosphere as the Patriots but the building blocks are there. Giving Maccagnan the power to frame the franchise for the next 3-5 years and then firing him before the team’s trajectory is known is inexplicable.
There were early reports of friction between Maccagnan and Gase. “I’ve had a very good working relationship with Adam. He has a very good sense of humor. He makes me laugh quite a bit, which is one of the things I really like working with him,” Maccagnan said in April.
But in the aftermath of Maccagnan’s ousting, Marish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that Gase had issues with Maccagnan’s free agency strategy namely disagreeing with the signing of Bell. Mehta sources say Gase didn’t feel any running back was the worth Bell’s four-year, $52 million contract.
Gase, now the Jets head coach and general manager, was fired by the Miami Dolphins in December.
Strap in for another interesting Jets season.
