Jets fire general manager Joe Douglas after team’s 3-8 start

The New York Jets have fired general manager Joe Douglas, the latest shake-up in what has been a hugely disappointing season.

Douglas was in the final year of his contract. The Jets are 3-8 in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. But they struggled to a 2-3 start, and team owner Woody Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh on Oct. 8.

The Jets decided to also part ways Tuesday with Douglas, who was 30-64 in his tenure with the Jets. In 2019, the team hired Douglas away from the Eagles, where he was vice president of player personnel.

“Today, I informed Joe Douglas he will no longer serve as the general manager of the New York Jets,” Johnson said in a statement issued by the team. “I want to thank Joe for his commitment to the Jets over the last six years and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”

Johnson also announced that Phil Savage, who has served as a senior football adviser since 2019, will be the Jets’ interim general manager for the rest of the season. Johnson said the team immediately would begin the process of finding a new general manager.

Douglas was not consulted by Johnson when the owner made the decision to dismiss Saleh and replace him on an interim basis with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. That was a clear indication that Douglas’ job also could be in jeopardy.

“I come in here every day and just want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and reach its destination,” Douglas said two weeks ago when asked if he was worried about his job status. “And whatever happens, happens.”

The Jets were 3-6 at that time and Douglas insisted the team could turn things around and make a late run.

“Obviously, it starts with me,” Douglas said. “I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could have done better. Obviously, when a situation happens like what happened four weeks ago [Saleh’s firing], you have a lot of self-reflective moments on the things that you could have done better to keep that from happening.

“But we’ve got an opportunity here with these last-stretch games to change that narrative.”

The Jets have since dropped two more games, including a humiliating 31-6 loss at Arizona two weeks ago followed by New York blowing a late lead and losing to Indianapolis, 28-27, on Sunday.

And Johnson apparently thought it was time during the Jets’ bye-week break to complete what is a major overhaul rather than wait until the end of the season — when it appears likely the franchise will miss the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year, the longest active drought in the NFL.