FLORHAM PARK — A massive increase in expectations from analysts and fans may not be felt within the halls of 1 Jets Drive by everyone.
That’s, at least, how general manager Joe Douglas sees how the team’s outlook following cutting the roster down to the NFL required 53 men with 16 practice squad players.
“We’re excited to be in the conversation as one of the better teams in the league. We have a lot to prove. We’re in a good place, but the next step is proving it on Sunday,” Douglas explained Thursday morning.
It’s been quite the week for Douglas the front office. New York has had to cut over 30 players in a two-day window while also scouting other teams around the league for interesting waiver pickups and practice squad fill-ins. While the Jets general manager openly thanked each member of the organization for their work in getting the first iteration of the roster done, the work has not finished for this franchise.
“We’re excited to move forward, excited about the season, but excitement doesn’t win games. It’s preparation, execution, and discipline to win games,” Douglas stated while refocusing the team’s mindset to Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.
On Aaron Rodgers
A big part of the Jets being able to field such a talented roster has to do with the help their franchise quarterback gave them. When Rodgers took a historic $35 million pay cut back in July, the expectation was that the team would be able to bring in plenty of top talent to help maximize the title window that the former four-time NFL MVP was opening.
Douglas was quick to point out that the fact the conversation that took place before his contract restructure has just been a microcosm of how important Rodgers has been to the franchise.
“That conversation is emblematic of Aaron’s time here…It gives us great flexibility moving forward if other opportunities present itself,” the general manager said.
Thanks to Rodgers, Douglas and the Jets have roughly over $20 million in cap space with plenty of players potentially being on the move during the season.
But when it comes to a player of Rodgers’ age, there is always a fear of a player losing the kind of athleticism and competitiveness that once made them great. Douglas hasn’t seen that so far with their quarterback while calling the feeling of seeing him practice in a Jets uniform “surreal.”
“The only scope I’ve seen him as is 2023 Aaron and I see an unbelievable competitor. He wants to go out and do a lot of damage,” Douglas said with a smile.
On Dalvin Cook
One of the quickest responses from Rodgers’ pay cut was to act swiftly on one of the top free-agent running backs on the open market. When the Jets were able to nab Dalvin Cook in the middle of training camp, they knew that by doing so would only enhance the team’s firepower on offense: even if it meant rolling the dice on the 28-year-old back.
Luckily for New York, they’ve seemed to have gotten a committed and hungry player looking to make the most of his opportunity.
“It was an opportunity to add another (Pro-Bowl)-caliber player to the roster, another player that was was excited to come here and a player that we feel is a difference maker to the offense. The experience that I’ve had with Dalvin has been fun. He’s all ball, he loves football. And so we want to be a group of guys that first and foremost love this game, and love competing,” Douglas stated as the reason for the team acquiring the four-time Pro Bowler.
Cook has been a full participant at practice since the end of preseason action and should be a full-go for the team’s season-opening game against Buffalo on Monday Night Football.
On the 2023 team’s comparison to his past Super Bowl teams
Douglas has been a part of multiple Super Bowl champion organizations. He helped Baltimore win two Super Bowls over the last two decades and was second-in-command to Howie Roseman in Philadelphia when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in 2017.
Like Roseman, Douglas made it clear that the team was not done with trying to improve the current Jets roster to reach the heights of those past teams.
“You just have to be ready. You don’t know who or when but we have great flexibility (to get a deal done),” Douglas explained.
Through camp though, the Jets organization has already seen comparisons to some of those talented Super Bowl champions. To their general manager, it starts with the chemistry on the team.
“The common denominator of all those teams was the locker room. Those are player-driven locker rooms…you feel that chemistry here when you walk out here,” Douglas said comparing the current Jets squad to the 2017 Eagles and Ravens’ rosters.
Expectations are extremely high in 1 Jets Drive and while Douglas may try and keep a game-by-game mindset, it’s hard not to see that the roster he is seen as the architect of could be in for a magical year ahead of them.
