The New York Jets are arguably the biggest flop of the 2024 NFL season. The head coach and general manager have already been fired. But the main culprit is someone else.

Those who pay the piper call the tune. This principle applies in the NFL because the team owners have the most power. The only problem is that many of the billionaires who have bought an NFL team are not necessarily football experts. Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, is the best example of this.

In January 2000, Johnson bought the Jets for $635 million. At the time, this was the third-highest price ever paid for a professional sports team. Financially, it was a good investment. Today, the team is said to be worth $6.9 billion, more than ten times as much.

In sporting terms, however, there was no upswing. On the contrary: the team never reached the Super Bowl in Johnson’s era. In the past twelve years, the playoffs have always been missed.

A brief review: At the beginning of 2023, he decided that the Jets needed a strong and experienced quarterback. Not only did they spend a fortune ($112.5 million for 3 years) on the aging Aaron Rodgers, but they also signed offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett because he had worked well with Rodgers at the Green Bay Packers.

He apparently wanted to revise this later: After Rodgers practically missed the 2023 season due to injury, Johnson wanted to bench him after just week 4 of the 2024 season. A strange way of dealing with a player on whom the entire team was focused.

The coaching staff was against it. The consequence: one week later, head coach Robert Saleh was fired. Did things get better? On the contrary: under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets only managed to win once in six games.

The consequence: General Manager Joe Douglas was found and fired this week as the next scapegoat.

It gets worse: Jets Owner Woody Johnson went mad over the last few weeks.

– Fired Saleh without consulting anyone
– Blocked Bryce Huff’s extension
– Denied a Lazard + Day 2 pick to trade for Jeudy
– Refused to negotiate Reddick’s extension demands
– Pushed for the Davanate… https://t.co/nwqAFKxFKI pic.twitter.com/pKQK50 2V3i

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 20, 2024

Johnson himself has played a major role in the negative trend of the Jets. “The Athletic” has once again listed all the things the owner has screwed up in the recent past.

Strange personnel decisions

GM Douglas wanted to make a trade with the Denver Broncos in the offseason, offering Allen Lazard and a Day 2 draft pick for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. But the owner intervened and killed the trade.

Rodgers could have done with a wide receiver of that quality. Instead, he signed Mike Williams to a one-year, $15 million contract. However, Williams never harmonized with Rodgers and only caught 166 yards in nine games. He has since been sent away.

In the middle of the season, Johnson pushed to trade Davante Adams, along with his mega-contract, to New York. Although he earns an insane amount of money, he is now only a shadow of his former self in terms of performance.

Johnson is also said to have been the driving force behind the 33-year-old offensive lineman Tyron Smith’s one-year, $20 million contract. His performance? Disappointing! According to “NFL Next Gen Stats,” he has allowed six sacks in 10 games.

But that’s not all: Johnson blocked a contract extension for defensive end Bryce Huff, who had ten sacks in the 2023 season and was subsequently signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Interfering with coaching decisions

The owner is also said to have refused to negotiate an extension with linebacker Haason Reddick, which has since led to a contract dispute. He even interfered with coaching decisions by taking away starting safety Tony Adams’ job on the final play of the game, apparently against the coaching staff’s wishes.

All of this has led to the Jets being arguably the biggest disappointment of the 2024 season. For Johnson, this has no consequences. Because he who pays the piper calls the tune – to the detriment of his franchise.

Also interesting: NFL – Jets chaos escalates: power struggle for Aaron Rodgers rages