Jets owner Woody Johnson’s teenage sons have growing influence over the team’s decisions

With the New York Jets at 4-10 and playing for fun over the next three weeks, it’s time for the “now they tell us” plays that chronicle the dysfunction that contributed to all of those unfulfilled expectations.

Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini and Michael Silver have a lot to read The athlete This goes into depth about owner Woody Johnson’s unusual management style. It sounds like Johnson did his own research and gave a lot of credence to his sons’ opinions, which exacerbated the internal strife.

When Johnson moved to the UK in 2017, his sons Brick and Jack were 11 and 9 years old respectively. When he returned, they were teenagers. Last year, Johnson began including his sons in some meetings at the team facility. For some Jets employees, the sons’ increasing involvement highlighted their father’s penchant for sharing X posts and articles from various media outlets, including a blog called “Jets X-Factor,” with the organization’s top decision-makers.

“When we discuss things, you’ll hear Woody quoting something Brick or Jack read online, weighed equally against the opinions of others in the department,” a Jets executive said.

“I’m reacting to a teenager,” Douglas (former general manager Joe) joked to people close to him before the season, acknowledging the perceived power dynamic.

Well, there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. NFL teams are massive brands and organizations that can be run in a thousand different ways and still be successful. Anyone reading the article from home can understand the drive to want to do things your own way, and the purpose of a team is to exercise control and follow a vision. If the Jets were 10-4 instead of 4-10, we would all be reading a different article this morning, one that portrays Gang Green as the new thing Money ball with the Johnson children sharing the role of Jonah Hill.

But that’s not the case. So an anecdote about then-Denver Bronco Jerry Jeudy’s pursuit last offseason that was derailed by video game ratings ends differently. Douglas was reportedly in the middle of negotiations that would have brought the standout wide receiver into Aaron Rodgers’ arsenal before things fell through for an unusual reason.

Douglas told the Broncos that Johnson didn’t want to make the trade because the owner felt Jeudy’s player rating on “Madden NFL,” the popular video game, wasn’t high enough, according to multiple league sources. The Broncos eventually traded the receiver to the Cleveland Browns. Last Sunday, Jeudy surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career.

Again, the Jets landed Davante Adams after an in-season trade, and along with Garret Wilson, they form a pretty solid receiving corps. But compared to Jeudy from day one, time and games were lost.

The original piece is full of other examples of the craziness going on at the top of the Jets’ organizational chart. Which seems a bit opaque at this point – if not in principle, then certainly in practice.