Jets Rumors: Woody Johnson Has Been 'Increasingly Meddlesome' in Personnel Decisions

After the firing of New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas on Tuesday, more details have emerged about team owner Woody Johnson usurping power within the organization.

According to ESPN's Rich Cimini, Johnson "had become increasingly meddlesome in personnel matters, multiple people close to the situation said."

Johnson had already superseded Douglas earlier this season when he made the decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh following the team's 2-3 start without consulting the GM prior to the move. Cimini explained that Johnson has gone as far as influencing coaching decisions, massively overstepping his duties as a team owner.

"It was Johnson who demanded the benching of safety Tony Adams for last Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, they said. It's highly unusual for an owner to be that involved," Cimini wrote. "Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich offered only a cryptic explanation for the benching, saying, 'There's a lot of different things that went into that and I'd rather not expand on it.'"

Johnson's decisions have completely blown up in his face, as the Jets have gone 1-5 since Saleh's firing. Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers has looked like a shell of himself in his first year back from a torn Achilles that cost him virtually the entire 2023 season. SNY's Connor Hughes reported on Tuesday that the team "prefers to move on from Rodgers, too."

The Jets have been an inept franchise for decades, and that has continued under Johnson's ownership that began in 2000. New York entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations and is now once again the laughingstock of the league after completely blowing things up with seven games left to play.

The Jets will be on a bye in Week 12 before returning to face the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 1.