The New York Jets hired a new head coach and general manager this offseason.
Three of the GM candidates who lost out to Darren Mougey suggested “something fishy” happened, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
“[Rick] Spielman’s hiring, and his overall role in the selection process, didn’t sit well with some of the GM candidates who lost out to Mougey. Three of them pointed out to ESPN the connection between Spielman, Mougey, and current Denver Broncos GM George Paton,” Cimini revealed.
Spielman sat in on all of the HC and GM interviews for the Jets as part of The 33rd Team which was hired by the Jets “in a support role to help identify and vet candidates in addition to coordinate interviews.”
Broncos GM George Paton “is a Spielman protege” Cimini revealed after working at his side “for several years with the [Minnesota] Vikings.”
“Paton gave a strong endorsement for Mougey, his assistant GM in Denver. In turn, Mougey hired Spielman. From the team’s perspective, the objective was to give Mougey — a first-time GM — an experienced and compatible person to lean on,” Cimini added.
More Details on Accusations Against the Jets Hiring Process
“I can tell you this when the Jets hired Rick Spielman as their senior football advisor within 10 minutes I got two texts from candidates who interviewed for the GM job asking is this true? Is Rick Spielman really the senior football advisor? Now we all know Rick Spielman participated with Mike Tannenbaum in the interviews for the head coach and GM jobs. They did the consulting [and] vetting of candidates as part of The 33rd Team. There were rumblings throughout the process that Spielman might end up with a permanent job with the Jets. There were even rumors that Mike Tannenbaum could end up with the team on a permanent basis. So it turns out it is Spielman who gets the job,” Cimini said on the “Flight Deck” podcast.
The Jets officially announced the Spielman hiring on Tuesday, February 11.
“Now you know the background, Spielman and Denver GM George Paton were together for many years in Minnesota. Paton was Spielman’s right hand man. Paton goes to Denver. Mougey comes from Denver. Mougey gets the job in New York. Spielman gets a strong recommendation on Mougey from Paton and Spielman gets hired by Mougey. So you can see like how this is working here and that is how it goes sometimes – not only in the NFL but all businesses. Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know,” Cimini explained.
Mougey, 39, is the third youngest general manager in the National Football League. The only two GMs who are younger are Andrew Berry, 37, of the Cleveland Browns, and Ryan Poles, 39, of the Chicago Bears. Mougey is a few months older than Poles.
With Mougey not having any experience in the GM chair the Jets wanted to surround him with veteran voices.
Spielman explained that he will be a “sounding board” for Mougey and Glenn but the final decision-making will rest with those two individuals.
Cimini explained that they wanted one of the voices around Mougey to be someone he’d be “compatible” with – which connects back to Paton-Spielman from their time together in Minnesota.
Sounds Like Sour Grapes Is Root of Jets Accusations
The Jets interviewed 31 combined candidates for their vacant HC and GM gigs according to the team. Specifically, there were 15 general manager candidates and 16 head coaching candidates.
By all measures, it was an exhaustive search and the Jets entered the process with a very open mind with no one candidate in mind for either position.
If someone wants to accuse someone of “something fishy” look at a different team in the AFC East.
The New England Patriots interviewed four people for their HC vacancy, per Jordy McElroy of Patriots Wire. Two of the candidates were the required minorities to fulfill the Rooney Rule and the other two candidates were Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
The two minority candidates, Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton, have been out of the league since 2022. NFL Insider Albert Breer accused the Patriots of performing “sham” interviews just to check off the Rooney Rule box.
“I don’t argue with the blueprint. I think the end result [the Jets] got what they wanted. They got an experienced former GM to help out and be a sounding board for the first-time GM,” Cimini said. “I’m good with that. I do have some questions on how they arrived at that point but look if they’re compatible and they make good decisions then it’s a positive for the Jets.”
Despite Cimini’s understanding, he revealed that “at least” three of the Jets’ GM candidates who didn’t get the job openly asked, “What the hell is happening here? This is an inside job. Again that could be a vocal minority but the Jets ended up with I think a good structure. Now we just have to see if the people within that structure can work together well.”
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