Steve Serby
NFL
Published December 24, 2023, 11:42 p.m. ET
Merry Christmas to all my Jets fans, from Woody Johnson:
The Three Amigos – Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh, and therefore Nathaniel Hackett – will be back in 2024 to help Aaron Rodgers win Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Just call out Woody, the Grinch who stole Christmas if you disagree, and many of you who leaned on “You are what your 17-32 record says you are” during the Saleh era “Focus will undoubtedly do that.
But Woody got it right.
Not only is it the right decision, it's now the only decision in which Rodgers has taken on the de facto role of general manager because of the investment Johnson made in moving heaven and earth to get him to lure them out of obscurity and make them forever Super Bowl dreams and the ticket and merchandise sales that come with them.
Rodgers, giving up $35 million of his own wealth and expressing his desire to play for two more years, essentially got Woody to wrap mulligans under the Christmas trees of Douglas and Saleh, and by extension, Rodgers' best friend Hackett.
It wouldn't make sense to excite your fan base with the arrival of a future first-round Hall of Fame quarterback with Joe Namath doing cartwheels and offering his retired No. 12 and then grounding him four plays in his Jets Career slips out from under your feet.
Jets owner Woody Johnson watches the game against the Commanders from his box on December 24, 2023. Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post
Woody revealed his plans to The Post's Brian Costello ahead of the Jets' 30-28 win over the woeful Commanders. Either Woody had a good feeling that the Jets wouldn't suffer an ignominious loss to the Sam Howell Commanders – and after blowing a 27-7 lead, they almost did – or he didn't care about the result or was completely empty seats disguised as Jets fans.
“The culture of the team is much better,” Woody told The Post. “The defense is better. The offense needs some pieces.”
Rodgers was the missing piece Woody craved, and when the missing piece was missing, the season was lost along with it, as Douglas compounded his mistake of recruiting Zach Wilson second overall three years ago by taking it failed to sign a more competent and experienced replacement for the event of an Only The Jets disaster.
“Of course I can sit here and give you reasons why I think I'm the right coach,” Saleh said, “but at the same time I have to think about, acknowledge and improve on a lot of things,” not just for myself but globally , and we're using this offseason to make sure we attack them in a way that gets us to the goal that we all believe we can achieve, which is a championship.”
Saleh needs Rodgers to coach the offense while he and DC Jeff Ulbrich coach the defense. Captain CJ Mosley is on board with Saleh.
“I just think his mindset and message is true to this game and our team,” Mosley said. “I really believe he's the right man for this team, the right man for this job, because when he's up there talking, I can relate and sometimes mimic exactly what he's saying or trying to say to the team to get us to that to take it to the next level, so I have full confidence in him.”
Breece Hall, unleashing the beast within him (20-95-2 TDs, 12-96 receiving), assumed the regime would return. Asked why he believes Saleh is the right man for the job, Hall told The Post: “He’s the same every day. I think he just tells you how it is. He is a great leader. He’s a guy you listen to when he says something.”
Hackett's attitude helped lure Rodgers, and Trevor Siemian, who ultimately put the Jets in position for Greg Zuerlein's game-winning 54-yard FG and deployed Hall as a dual threat, was a rare feature in his contested 2023 cap.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh beams during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“I think he’s a great guy, I think he makes really good plays,” Hall said of Hackett. “You need to watch the tape and see what really happens. He pleases everyone and I hate that he is vilified the way he is. Everyone on our team loves him. Sometimes it’s not the play call, it’s the play.”
Sometimes it's the play call, but Rodgers goes for Hackett and that's it. Even if Rodgers emerges next summer at age 40 with a healthy left Achilles, there can be no more excuses: The mandate must be “Super Bowl Or Bust,” even more so than this season.
“There's going to be a lot of adversity that's going to get on our nerves even more next year, probably more than this year,” Mosley said, “so I just have to understand what it's going to take.” It's going to keep everyone together, it Injuries are going to happen, things are going to happen that we can’t control, but that’s how we hold things together, just like in a game like this.”
Nathaniel Hackett participates in a practice with quarterback Aaron Rodgers during New York Jets training camp. Noah K. Murray-NY Post
If Woody's over/under number in consecutive playoff misses is 13, he won't sign a 14th-place finisher in 2024 and join the Blow It Up crowd.
“I love staying in the system for another year and building on what we have here,” Tyler Conklin said.
Rodgers must help Douglas recruit a small army of offensive linemen and get him to trade his first-round pick for Davante Adams. If not, Mike Evans and Tee Higgins will become free agents.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers #8 on the sideline in the first quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Of course, that doesn't mean that Douglas, with his neck on the line, is anywhere near giving Rodgers free agency. If Douglas doesn't trade for Adams, he should use that first-round pick to replace Mekhi Becton at left tackle.
Déjà vu again next season.
“I didn’t even know it was news,” Garrett Wilson said. “We feel like we are close, we have to find out through play, but yeah, there was never any doubt about that. We’ll be here next year ready to rock.”
Yule Gotta Believe.
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