Former Jets GM lands with the team he made the worst deal of his tenure with
One year after making one of the worst trades of his tenure, former Jets GM Joe Douglas is returning to the team that he made the deal with. Joe Douglas has reportedly agreed to return to the Philadelphia Eagles as a senior scouting executive under GM Howie Roseman. Roseman was Douglas’ boss from 2016-2019 when […]
One year after making one of the worst trades of his tenure, former Jets GM Joe Douglas is returning to the team that he made the deal with.
Joe Douglas has reportedly agreed to return to the Philadelphia Eagles as a senior scouting executive under GM Howie Roseman. Roseman was Douglas’ boss from 2016-2019 when Douglas was the Eagles vice president of player personnel, until he was hired to lead the Jets.
Douglas tried in vain to build the team in the Philadelphia model, but instead the Jets went 32-68 and failed to reach the playoffs during Douglas’ six-year tenure.
Douglas was fired last November after owner Woody Johnson had already fired head coach Robert Saleh. Douglas was near the end of the final year of his contract. A few weeks later, he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Roseman at an Eagles home game in a sign that a reunion was likely on the table.
Douglas’ big misses in his tenure with the Jets were drafting Zach Wilson with the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft and then making a trade with the Eagles for Haason Reddick. After the Eagles signed Bryce Huff away from the Jets during free agency, Douglas turned around and traded a 2026 third-round pick to Roseman for the disgruntled Haason Reddick.
While I have a lot of issues with some of the decisions Douglas made in his tenure with the Jets, I don’t blame him for the Haason Reddick deal. He was essentially lied to by Reddick’s camp and didn’t budge once his back was against the wall. If he would have given in to Reddick’s demands, he would have looked like a weak negotiator and that could have a big effect on all his future negotiations.
It wasn’t until Joe Douglas’ legs were taken out from under him by owner Woody Johnson that the Reddick deal got done. Reddick got everything he wanted and the Jets got one sack in 10 games for the price. Reddick has since signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.
It wasn’t all bad for Douglas, who was all the architect behind the 2022 draft class, when he landed Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall with top-34 picks. Those four players are the foundational piece for new GM Darren Mougey to work with as he tries to build the team in his first year. Whether Mougey signs any of those players is still up in the air.
I understand why Joe Douglas got fired last year, but if Jets fans are being honest, he doesn’t even rank in the top 5 of worst GM’s in team history. I hope things work out for him in Philadelphia and wherever he winds up after.
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