Housecleaning seems unlikely, but Jets owner remains disappointed
There isn't a more chatty, leaky, uncomfortable-headline-grabbing team in the NFL than the current New York Jets. They may be the chattiest, leakiest, uncomfortable-headline-grabbing-est team in recent NFL history.
This fact has not gone unnoticed by the owner, Woody Johnson, and he's not happy about it. Not at all, according to several league sources.
(Cue the irony of a leak saying Johnson is angry about all of the leaks.)
As the NFL braces for a Sunday night and Monday when numerous changes among front offices and coaching staffs are expected in large numbers – one team official estimated the NFL could see eight to ten teams changing either their head coach, general manager or both – the Jets will be one of the most interesting to watch.
Johnson, these sources explained, isn't just unhappy with the Jets' dismal season. He's unhappy with what he views as a franchise that can't keep its business behind closed doors.
It's possible general manager Mike Tannenbaum will be fired on Monday but what league officials are wondering is if Johnson's unhappiness with how the team is run will stop there.
Indeed, this season, or rarely any other, has a team's internal doings been so freely broadcast. From Rex Ryan's future plans in television should he be fired to Tim Tebow's refusal to run the Wildcat to any other number of stories. It's no wonder the passing of bowels was not leaked.
It was actually an amazing thing to witness. There has maybe been no team, ever, in which any number of people leaked various intensions due to varying agendas publicly. Look at al of the top franchises in football. The Patriots, Packers, Giants—there are leaks but few. The best teams have managers and coaches in place who are able to unify a franchise and keep most of the players, coaches and front office personnel on message.
The Patriots are the cone of silence. The Jets are a spaghetti strainer.
So while it still remains unlikely for a total housecleaning, it's still possible, mainly because the Jets have been a disappointment on the field. But also because Johnson wants to quiet a lot of big mouths.
