The Eagle Has Landed...in New York

Joe Douglas during his tenure with the Eagles.

The Jets search for a GM is finally over. On Friday, they hired former Eagles VP of Player Personnel, Joe Douglas as their new general manager. Before I give my take on the hire, I'm noticing this perception that reporters are creating about the Jets that gives me mixed thoughts. An ESPN reporter stated that the Jets would not take no for an answer from Douglas, claiming that each time he turned them down, they came back more relentlessly, until he relented.

Until or unless officially stated from someone in the Jets front office, to me, the only thing that gives this claim any validity is because from my understanding, they requested an interview from the Vikings' George Paton on more than one occasion. Otherwise, it seems that people are on this low-key smear campaign to make the Jets look like hopeless beggars.

Anyway, because Douglas was viewed as a favorite to the land the job from the beginning, and being an acquaintance of head coach Adam Gase, one of my reactions to this is "duh." Being familiar with Gase should help things run more smoothly. Not saying that they will always agree on everything, but I think more than likely they will be on the same page in terms of what players will fit and will not fit.

On a side note, Gase's last move as an interim GM was re-signing running back Bilal Powell, a move I wasn't expecting, and much better than the cheap trade-off getting only a sixth round pick for Darron Lee.With his versatility as a runner and receiver, Bilal should be a great fit in Gase's offense.  The backfield just got deeper with this acquisition, along with Ty Montgomery, Elijah McGuire and the major signing of Le'Veon Bell.

As I alluded to in my last post, I'm good with this hire because Douglas comes from two stable organizations in Baltimore and most recently Philly, so he has seen and knows what a championship-caliber team looks like. Known for being an integral part of turning teams around, it will be intriguing to see what he brings to the table. My optimism is that he will continue his penchant of helping turn a team from low-seed to steady championship-caliber contenders, this time from a higher position, being given the keys to the team's football operations.

That's not to say that success will happen overnight, it usually doesn't, but I'm optimistic that it will be sooner than later. After a three-week search and several interviews, it's official, the eagle has landed in New York. I call this: Broadway Joe: The Second Act.

My Choice for the Jets GM Job

Ozzie Newsome. Photo Credit: USA Today Sports.

As the Jets continue their search for a general manager, interviewing four out of the five candidates this past weekend. First, they interviewed the Seattle Seahawks' Co-Director of Player Personnel Scott Fitterer, the New Orleans Saints' Director of Pro Scouting Terry Fontenot, the Philadelphia Eagles' VP of Player Personnel Joe Douglas and finally, the Chicago Bears' Assistant Director of Player Personnel Champ Kelly from the Chicago Bears.

One of the candidates, George Paton of the Minnesota Vikings rejected the Jets request for an interview-- for the third time! They just don't get it, do they? Will they ever learn from dealing with Minnesota? This reminds me of that lame who keeps pursuing a woman who wants nothing to do with him. Leave that broad alone and find someone who wants to be on your team, so to speak. I try not to use choice words on this blog, so I'll give my advice to the Jets concerning him in an acronym: FTMF.

The favorite out of these candidates from the start has been Joe Douglas. He's familiar with Adam Gase, and from my understanding, he wants to run his own team. What I like about this candidate is aside from the familiarity with Gase, he comes from two stable organizations: currently Philadelphia and previously the Baltimore Ravens.

The Eagles won a championship two years ago, and they usually maintain a team that are contenders, as well as the Ravens. Assuming he's learned from the guys on those franchises, I like what he could possibly bring to the table.

Speaking of the Ravens, this brings me to the subject of this post. Needless to say I'm not a part of the recruiting/hiring process, but my personal favorite, if I could pick someone to manage the New York Jets, it would be former Ravens GM and current advisor Ozzie Newsome.

Ozzie Newsome (right), Lamar Jackson (left). AP Photo/Patrick Semansky.

Ozzie created a strong, stable, contending foundation in Baltimore. Most of his draft picks have been successful; Terrell Suggs, Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata to name a few, and they won two Super Bowl titles under his watch. I'll admit, another reason is the fact that he's a brother, and while I'm for seeing people succeed in general, for me, it's extra special to see one of my own succeed.

I can hear the voices of certain people now: "Why everything has to be about race?" Screw you. Moving on, most would call this "wishful thinking," but hey, a brother can be optimistic, can't he? You never know.