Woody Johnson Brings in GM He Fired to Find Replacement for GM He Fired

The Jets are bringing in the team’s former general manager to help hire a new one. 

The franchise has hired The 33rd Team, a media company full of former coaches, players, and executives, to assist in its search for a new general manager and head coach, the company confirmed to Front Office Sports. The primary representative from The 33rd Team will be none other than former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and former Vikings GM Rick Spielman. The news was first reported by CBS Sports. 

Tannenbaum worked for the Jets from 1997 to 2012 when he rose from director of player contracts to general manager. Woody Johnson bought the team from former owner Leon Hess in 1999, giving Tannenbaum an extensive history with the owner. Tannenbaum, who also works as an ESPN analyst, holds the distinction of being the last Jets GM to lead the team to the playoffs, constructing the rosters for the 2009 and 2010 teams that went to consecutive AFC championships games. The Jets haven’t tasted the playoffs since and hold the longest postseason drought in North American sports. 

Spielman was the Vikings GM for nine seasons after spending the previous five as the organization’s VP of player personnel. He had an assist in the Commanders’ turnaround this season, aiding on the hires of general manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn, who have the team in playoff contention for the first time in years. 

This will be the first time The 33rd Team, which calls itself a “football think tank,” will be involved in searching for an NFL GM. The 33rd Team, which mainly produces podcasts, NFL analysis, and fantasy football help, announced Monday it was expanding into other consulting areas, including help with name, image, and likeness; executive searches; and negotiation. The 33rd Team has assisted with college coaching searches before, according to ESPN, but the Jets will be its first NFL search. 

Sports teams hire executive search firms to help with major hires all the time, and Johnson is one of their biggest customers. In 2013 he used Korn Ferry for a general manager search that produced John Idzik, who held the job for just two years. After firing Idzik, Johnson used former NFL general managers Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf for a search that ended with the hire of Mike Maccagnan, who held the job for four seasons until being replaced by Joe Douglas. None have fared much better than their predecessors. 

Tannenbaum could just be helping Johnson identify candidates and not aiding the recruiting effort to take the job. There have been reports of Johnson meddling with the front office throughout the course of the Jets’ disastrous 3–8 season. Johnson nixed trades, proposed benching quarterback Aaron Rodgers four games into the season, and fired coach Robert Saleh without consulting general manager Joe Douglas, who was also fired last week, according to a recent story in The Athletic. 

Johnson may hire a new general manager and then leave the team to rejoin President-elect Donald Trump’s administration; there have been reports suggesting his return to government is likely. When Johnson served as ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s first term, his brother Christopher ran the team. Should he leave for politics, he’ll likely give the team to Christopher again. 

The Jets and Tannenbaum did not immediately respond to requests for comment.