The Jets have plenty of holes to address on their roster, but those are not the only problems that need addressing this offseason.
Throughout Adam Gase’s first-year as head coach, One Jets Drive mimicked a leaky faucet with all the information that spilled out of it. Beginning with the reported power struggle between Gase and Mike Maccagnan (which wound up being true), 2019 was a year filled with tidbits that should have been kept in house instead of filtered out to the media.
If you thought 2020 meant new year, new Jets in terms of keeping things in the building, think again. New York went all of January without any major leaks slipping out into the public, but anyone familiar with the organization knew it was only a matter of time before either someone was being thrown under the bus or being purposely portrayed in a negative light.
Earlier this week, ESPN reported that the Jets felt running back Le’Veon Bell gained weight through the season and lost explosiveness as a result. Whether or not that claim has any credence is irrelevant. What really matters is the continuation of a disturbing trend that seemingly has no end.
Bell has spent less than a calendar year with the Jets and has had all kinds of things leaked about him. First it was that Gase did not want to break the bank and give him the money Maccagnan did to bring him to the Big Apple. Then it was a week’s worth of rumors that Bell would be traded at the deadline. Now, in the middle of the offseason without absolutely nothing going on, Bell allegedly got fat and his production dropped because of that.
As Bleacher Report’s Connor Rogers suggested on Twitter, it’s obvious where these leaks are coming from. Gase and his offensive coaching staff clearly have an agenda. Gase never wanted to pay big bucks for a running back — a position he clearly thinks can be filled on a rotational basis instead of by one player making over $50 million. How have they decided to hammer home this point? By leaking things to the media any chance they get.
The Jets are embarrassing themselves at this point. There is no reason to leak information to the media to make a player look bad. In Bell’s case, it seems like Gase and his offensive staff are more interested in making a statement than looking out for their player. There is no way to know for sure who is leaking stuff to the media, but it’s relatively easy to follow a paper trail. Regardless of who is responsible for the leaks, the bottom line is that they make the organization look petty. Especially considering Bell has said and done all the right things since joining Gang Green.
New York has a big offseason ahead of itself. First-year general manager Joe Douglas is tasked with filling numerous holes on both sides of the football through free agency and the draft in the hope that the Jets can contend as soon as next season. Before Douglas can worry about addressing his roster, though, he is going to have to take care of a bigger issue at hand.
He’s going to have to hire a plumber to stop the leaks that make the team he runs look more like a circus than a professional sports franchise. Until then, dysfunction will continue to follow the Jets.