Report: Seahawks Executive Idzik Becomes Frontrunner For Jets GM Post
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Jets may finally be close to naming their new general manager.
Weeks after the team hired consulting firm Korn/Ferry and began the process of screening several candidates for the position created by the firing of Mike Tannenbaum, it appears John Idzik, the Seattle Seahawks' vice president of football administration, has emerged as the frontrunner.
Jets owner Woody Johnson was expected to make an offer to Idzik on Thursday evening, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
If the Jets make the offer and Idzik signs on it would put an end to an exhaustive search. The Jets have interviewed, among others, Tom Gamble, the San Francisco 49ers director of personnel, Dave Caldwell, the former director of personnel with the Atlanta Falcons who took the GM job in Jacksonville, Pittsburgh Steelers executive Omar Khan, former NFL GMs Jerry Angelo and Ted Sundquist, plus a host of others that includes former Tannenbaum assistant Scott Cohen.
Idzik has been lauded as a serious salary capologist and contract negotiator, an executive whose main task would be correcting the financial mess the Jets currently find themselves in, a situation that ultimately led to Tannenbaum's ouster. Idzik may not be the traditional "football man" that the Jets need, but he has worked in the NFL since 1991, including 11 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and three with the Arizona Cardinals before joining the Seahawks six years ago.
In the much-publicized Jan. 8 press conference at the team's facility in Florham Park, N.J., Johnson said the new GM would have final say over player personnel decisions, though it's expected head coach Rex Ryan will have a significant say in the directions the Jets take in free agency and the draft.
If Idzik is hired, how he will fit in with Ryan will be closely scrutinized throughout the entire offseason, because there are many who believe the Jets' problems finding a suitable GM have been directly the result of Johnson sticking with Ryan despite the team's disappointing 6-10 season. NFL analysts have said most of the serious candidates for the position have had their own ideas about who should be head coach.
In addition to the salary cap mess the Jets find themselves in, there are many other questions that need to be answered, namely the status of quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, how to attract top free agents to the organization and strategy for the upcoming draft.
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