The leader is in the clubhouse.
The Jets completed their interview with Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas on Sunday for their general manager opening. Now, we will see if he gets the job as many around the NFL expect.
Douglas has been the perceived front-runner from the minute the Jets fired Mike Maccagnan on May 15. In fact, rumors had been circulating even before Maccagnan was fired that the Jets were planning on replacing Maccagnan with Douglas. The Eagles exec had been reaching out to people around the league about joining him with the Jets.
Jets coach/interim GM Adam Gase knows Douglas from the year they spent together with the Bears in 2015, when Gase was the offensive coordinator and Douglas was their director of college scouting.
Douglas joined the Eagles’ front office in May 2016 and helped construct the roster that won Super Bowl LII. Prior to his year with the Bears, Douglas spent 15 years in the Ravens scouting department and front office learning under GM Ozzie Newsome.
The Jets have now interviewed three candidates for the GM job with the Bears’ Champ Kelly up next. The Jets interviewed Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer on Friday, Saints director of pro scouting Terry Fontenot on Saturday and Douglas on Sunday.
Kelly will interview Monday. The Jets begin their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and Gase will have to put the GM search on hold while he coaches the team. The Jets likely will regroup at the end of this week and then decide whether any more interviews need to be done or if they are ready to hire someone.
The Jets have requested permission to speak with Vikings assistant general manager George Paton, but it is still unknown whether he will interview with them. He turned the Jets down in 2013 and ’15 when they requested interviews.
The GM search is being led by Gase, team CEO and chairman Christopher Johnson and team vice president Hymie Elhai.




