The New York Jets and Houston Texans each made big moves in their front office, here we break down what they mean for each franchise.
Big moves in the front offices of the New York Jets and Houston Texans were announced on Friday. The Jets found their new general manager in Joe Douglas while the Texans created a vacancy by parting with Brian Gaine.
Douglas was appointed after serving three seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’ VP of player personnel, playing an instrumental role in assembling the team that ended the franchise’s Super Bowl drought.
He will now be tasked with addressing the weaknesses of a roster that has blue-chip talent in the likes of Le’Veon Bell, C.J. Mosley and Jamal Adams but is still talent deficient in numerous areas, particularly at edge rusher and on the offensive line, which will need to do a much better job protecting Sam Darnold if he is to develop as envisaged.
Not only will Douglas have to add more talent around Darnold, he will also have to mesh with head coach Adam Gase, a task that appeared beyond his predecessor Mike Maccagnan, whose consistent failures in the draft outside of the first round have led to Douglas receiving the opportunity to prove himself after building a strong reputation in personnel circles.
Had the Texans fired Gaine earlier, Douglas may have been on their list of candidates.
Gaine’s firing came as a huge surprise given he had only been in the role 18 months and was hand-picked by head coach Bill O’Brien, who survives another GM with Rick Smith having also been removed from that post during O’Brien’s tenure.
The arrival of a new GM may lead to suggestions of O’Brien being on the hotseat going into this season. Many GMs often want to bring in their own guy but O’Brien may be spared that pressure if the Texans pursue Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio — who has a connection with O’Brien from his time in New England.
In the cases of both the Jets and the Texans it is clear that harmony between coach and GM has been lacking. The Jets will hope they have found an executive who can foster a strong relationship with Gase in Douglas, while bringing in a GM who can work with O’Brien should be the top priority for Houston if the organization remains convinced he is the right coach for the job.