Mike Maccagnan’s firing came as a stunner. But it wasn’t directly out of left field. More like shortstop.

There were rumors this could be coming, whispers of a rift between the Jets’ general manager and new coach Adam Gase that leaked the Friday of the NFL draft.

Draft analyst Tony Pauline first said on a podcast that Maccagnan and Gase had clashed over players in free agency. The Athletic’s Mike Lombardi then reported that the Jets GM was on the hot seat and could lose his job after the draft. Jason La Canfora of CBS said the Jets could then move to replace Maccagnan with Eagles personnel man Joe Douglas, which now appears likely.

The Jets denied all these reports at the time. Maccagnan said he felt “very good” about the situation he was in and that the relationship with Gase was in a good place. Gase was even more forceful, saying “it kind of pisses me off” that such reports were even out there.

“If everybody just agreed on everything, it would be boring,” Gase said about disagreements he may have had with Maccagnan. “You need to have a little excitement every once in a while.”

Well, he’s got excitement now, that’s for sure.

🚨 Developing Story 🚨

Dating back to free agency, there has been an internal "rift" between Jets HC Adam Gase & Jets GM Mike Maccagnan.@TonyPauline explains what it means on The Draft Analysts podcast with @christripodi.

Full breakdown: https://t.co/WkZ9DtfZyKpic.twitter.com/YQL3npHRzR

— Bleav (@BleavNetwork) April 26, 2019