The New York Jets haven’t seemed too worried about 2025 and beyond. Knowing that time was short with Aaron Rodgers, they focused on this season. That’s a reason Robert Saleh was fired after five games. There’s no time for patience.
But at some point soon there will be a reality to face, and it might not be pretty.
The Jets are going to have to find a new head coach in January, perhaps a new general manager and many new players too. Maybe interim coach Jeff Ulbrich takes a talented team to the playoffs and answers that part of the question. Perhaps Aaron Rodgers is back for 2025, putting off the quarterback problem for a season.
But there’s also a very real possibility the Jets are a disappointment all season and then they’ll have a question staring at them next offseason: What happens when you go all-in and then miss?
Jets might have to rebuild
The Jets have a lot of veterans, which makes sense when you’re chasing one shot at glory with a quarterback who is about to turn 41 years old.
There are 15 players at age 29 or older on the Jets’ active roster, and that doesn’t include no-show pass rusher Haason Reddick, who is 30. The Jets also do have some good young players like receiver Garrett Wilson, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, cornerback Sauce Gardner and running back Breece Hall (though Hall’s season-long struggles are a concern). If the Jets do decide to rebuild if their season doesn’t turn around — “If I don’t do what I know I’m capable of doing, we’re all probably going to be out of here,” Rodgers told the Jets media in May — there are some building blocks.
But selling a new coach on the situation going forward won’t be easy.
The Jets have the longest playoff drought in major American professional sports. They have a lot of veterans who are nearing the end. That includes Rodgers, who has said he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll play. He’ll be on the final year of his contract in 2025, if he does decide to stay. And if he does stay, it might not be a selling point for a new coach. He’ll be 42 years old in December of 2025, hasn’t played that well this season and you can probably ask Saleh how difficult it can be to coach him. The Jets don’t have anyone on the roster who is an heir apparent in 2025 or beyond. They presumably won’t have a great draft position, and it’s not an exciting quarterback draft class anyway.
The ownership situation won’t help. Woody Johnson bought the team in 2000, and the Jets are 170-222 since then. The Jets won the AFC East one time in his first 24 seasons as owner. Johnson is generally considered one of the NFL’s worst owners, and that can wreck a franchise.
The Jets do have most of their future draft picks, though they did send a 2026 conditional third-round pick to the Eagles for Reddick, who hasn’t reported yet. And presumably if Johnson is saying this is “one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled by the New York Jets” and “I want to give the team the most opportunity to win this season” then something like trading future picks for Davante Adams or anyone else is on the table. They do have a good amount of cap space going forward. Maybe a rebuild wouldn’t take long.
But it’s still a franchise that has created a losing culture with a bad owner, and might be looking for a new quarterback without any obvious plan to fix that problem. And whatever comes next will play out in one of the most pressure-filled markets in the NFL. Which hot up-and-coming coaching candidate wants to step into that?
How will Jets finish this season?
Things can change in the NFL very quickly. It’s not outrageous to think that the Jets can turn it around with Ulbrich. The Jets are still very talented. If they beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, they’ll be in first place of the AFC East. It’s a team that would be 3-2 right now if Greg Zuerlein hit a field goal in the final minute of a Week 4 loss.
The Jets might not be as far off as just about any team that fires its coach during the season. They haven’t played well this season but don’t assume they’re incapable of turning it around.
That would fix some, but not all, of the Jets’ issues going forward. If the Jets make the playoffs and break their depressing postseason drought, it seems that they’d give Ulbrich another shot to be their coach next season. Perhaps he’s the answer. It’s impossible to say yet.
But it takes some optimism to get to that place. The Jets look like a team led by an old quarterback, that can’t run the ball and aside from one game against the hapless Patriots haven’t looked anywhere near a playoff team. Even a wild-card appearance and an early exit wouldn’t be satisfying for most Jets fans. It’s reasonable to think that the Jets aren’t as good as the Bills in the AFC East, don’t get a wild-card spot … and win enough games to push them back in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Tuesday’s firing of Saleh was messy in a few ways. But the real problems might start when the season is over. And every coaching candidate will be aware of it.