If Woody Johnson’s patience has indeed run out with his general manager, he’ll let the world know on John Idzik’s 711th day on the job: Monday. That’s when Idzik and Rex Ryan could fall victims to a three- or four-win season by getting the ax from the team’s owner.
Only a few months ago, the chance of Idzik being fired at the end of the year was a long shot. Twelve losses later, he looks likely to do something that is quite the rarity: be an NFL GM for just two seasons.
How did he get to this point? No one can fall this far, this fast, without a multitude of errors. Let’s look at the mistakes that have marred Idzik’s tenure.
1. The Darrelle Revis saga
Idzik’s decision to trade Revis in April of 2013 was debatable, even in retrospect, because the Jets lost their best player but ended up drafting another star, Sheldon Richardson, with the 13th pick of that year’s draft they received in return.
But Idzik erred when he passed on the greatest opportunity he could have asked for: getting Revis back. The GM called his later Percy Harvin trade a “potential coup” but the real coup would have been getting first- and fourth-round picks for Revis only to re-sign him as a free agent a year later after the Bucs cut him. The only thing that could have made it worse actually happened: Revis signed with the Patriots instead.
The loss of Revis leads us right to . . .
2. Cornerback issues
Twenty months removed from that trade, the Jets are still searching for a solution at cornerback, a critical position in Rex Ryan’s defense.
John Idzik doesn't get Darrelle Revis back with Jets.
Idzik let Antonio Cromartie walk in 2013. That in and of itself was fine — Cromartie played poorly last season — but the GM failed to sign anyone substantial in his stead, despite a free agent market that boasted several high-end corners. The greatest sin was getting Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the building and then allowing him to head across town to the Giants.
Instead, Idzik elected to sign journeyman corner Dimitri Patterson as a starter. That worked out even worse than even the harshest of skeptics could have imagined as Patterson went AWOL on the team in preseason and was released shortly thereafter.
3. The Money
The non-signing of a cornerback was puzzling because the team had so much money to play with. The Jets entered the season with more than $20 million in cap space, leaving fans wondering why they didn’t get a corner or another receiver considering the money will have to be spent eventually.
Idzik preached cap flexibility, which did net him Harvin via a midseason trade. That did little good for the team’s chances as the Jets were already out of the playoffs at that point.
4. Free Agency
Idzik’s biggest errors in free agency were moves, such as the aforementioned lack of cornerback deals he did not make. Similarly, the GM chose to attend the Texas Tech pro day last offseason instead of hosting Emmanuel Sanders on a visit. With Sanders’ meeting with the Jets pushed back, he ended up signing with Denver before he ever got around to visiting Florham Park.
Of the signings Idzik did make — mostly bargain basement deals — he had his fair share of busts, especially early on. The signing of Mike Goodson backfired when he was arrested in the offseason before his first season. Between a suspension relating to that, an injury in 2013 and failing to report to minicamp, he played in two games for the Jets.
David Garrard retired and unretired but never got close to the field. Stephen Peterman and Antonio Garay didn’t make the team in 2013; same with Jacoby Ford in 2014.
Eric Decker, Breno Giacomini, Jason Babin and Willie Colon have all been adequate but unspectacular, and Chris Johnson disappointed this season.
5. Geno Smith and the draft
The only good thing about drafting Geno Smith was that he wasn’t a first-round pick. But even as the 39th pick of the 2013 draft, what Smith has done is simply waste two years of the organization’s time. The Jets gave him a shot, it didn’t work out, and now they need to find a new quarterback again.
Though Idzik ought to be lauded for his selection of Richardson with the 13th pick last season, as well as trading a fourth-rounder for Chris Ivory, the majority of his selections have not paid dividends yet. Dee Milliner, Smith and Brian Winters have not helped the team much to date, and Calvin Pryor and Jace Amaro have not been impact players in their rookie campaigns.
6. Losing the fans
Perhaps the last straw for many fans was Idzik’s mid-year press conference, which included a rambling, 19-minute monologue. After that the fans turned on him to the point where billboards went up and planes flew over practice calling for his firing.
That may have been the GM’s undoing, because Johnson has to consider that if he keeps Idzik, he’s going to need to find a head coach willing to come into an environment where the general manager is already reviled.