The New York Jets are widely considered to be one of the most poorly run organizations in professional sports and have been a laughingstock of the NFL for years. Every new story about the Jets internal dysfunction gives us a greater understanding of how they’ve gotten here, with ownership playing the biggest role in their ineptitude.
On Thursday, The Athletic dropped the latest deep dive into the Woody Johnson-led Jets, with a number of anecdotes about how the owner meddles in football operations, seemingly leaning on his teenage sons (one of which, I kid you not, is named Brick) for advice. The evidence cited by Jets sources that points to Woody getting his insight into the football team from his sons is that he reportedly will regularly cite Madden ratings when discussing personnel moves, and apparently nixed a trade for former Broncos receiver (and current Browns receiver) Jerry Jeudy this past offseason because his Madden rating was too low.
A few weeks later, Douglas and his Broncos counterpart, George Paton, were deep in negotiations for a trade that would have sent Jeudy to the Jets and given future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers another potential playmaker. The Broncos felt a deal was near. Then, abruptly, it all fell apart. In Denver’s executive offices, they couldn’t believe the reason why.
Douglas told the Broncos that Johnson didn’t want to make the trade because the owner felt Jeudy’s player rating in “Madden NFL,” the popular video game, wasn’t high enough, according to multiple league sources. The Broncos ultimately traded the receiver to the Cleveland Browns. Last Sunday, Jeudy crossed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career.
This is an incredible way to do business, and while the EA Sports team works hard to try and make Madden ratings as realistic as they can, it’s probably not the best tool for making your full evaluations of a player as an NFL team. Jeudy, as The Athletic notes, has had a breakout back-half of the season in Cleveland, as he’s thrived as the leading man for the Browns ever since Jameis Winston took over for Deshaun Watson. The way things worked out probably was for the best for Jeudy, as he wouldn’t have gotten this kind of opportunity in New York with Garrett Wilson (and, later, adding Davante Adams), so he decided to have some fun after this report came out, blaming Madden ambassador and ratings adjustor Chad Johnson.
It’s a very funny response and the truth is, I don’t think much changes this Jets season with Jeudy in the lineup, but the way they decided to nix that trade is indicative of terrible process and explains a lot about why the Jets are where they are as an organization.
