Robert Saleh’s seat is getting very warm. The New York Jets have not made the NFL Playoffs since 2010. For perspective, the next worst drought in the NFL is the Denver Broncos, who have only gone eight years since their last playoff appearance. Now, if this was a smaller market team that didn’t have a history or huge national following, maybe this wouldn’t be such a big story, but this is the New York Jets, one of the most followed and recognized team in the NFL.
For the Jets, there are no excuses. There is always someone to blame, and they don’t let up until that person is let go.
Robert Saleh has been with the Jets for the past three seasons and has always had an excuse. This time it may be Robert Saleh’s turn. Some may ask, Saleh has been the coach for nearly four years, and doesn’t the coach always take credit? To this point, not realy.
Excuse 1: New York Jets Going in a New Direction
For the first season and, to an extent, the second season under Robert Saleh, it was really easy to chalk up any lack of success to having a new coaching staff and a rookie quarterback, Zach Wilson. Even though the Jets missed the Playoffs for the first year, there were some signs of improvement, and for the most part, fans were okay with missing the playoffs.
At the end of the first season, the goal was to get new players through the NFL Draft and trades, and they seemed to do it in the offseason, once again putting fans in a good spot with Saleh and the team.
Excuse 2: Zach Wilson Isn’t the Answer
After going out and getting more offensive weapons around Zach Wilson, the Jets continued to struggle. A few games of not being able to lead the Jets to a winning record, Saleh and the Jets replaced Wilson with Mike White and Joe Flacco, and once again the team struggled to win.
Again, the fans were okay when Saleh and the Jets promised to move in a new direction the next year, and they did by getting Aaron Rodgers.
Even though the seat was starting to get warm around Saleh, bringing in the former MVP was a huge win for the Jets, and it shut down any talks of replacing Saleh.
Excuse 3: Aaron Rodgers Got Injured
The Aaron Rodgers experiment didn’t last very long in 2023, as Aaron Rodgers went down on the fourth play of the season. With an ACL tear, Rodgers’s entire season was over before the team ever saw the endzone. Zach Wilson, who was the backup and viewed as a project to learn under Rodgers, was suddenly thrown into the game. Over the next few games, it was a repeat of the 2021 and 2022 seasons: a few wins but a lot of disappointing losses.
For the rest of the season, the Jets went in and out of playing different quarterbacks, including Trevor Simeian and Tim Boyle. Again, none of these quarterbacks were able to succeed, yet fans were still forgiving since Aaron Rodgers went down, and that wasn’t Saleh’s fault.
Excuse 4: Out of Excuses?
Finally, Robert Saleh and the New York Jets have everything they hoped for and asked for. They have their MVP quarterback, stars around the quarterback, and the coordinators that they hoped for. It seems like if the Jets can’t get things turned around in a serious way in the next couple of games, Saleh may be out of a job and the Jets will be back to square one.
Again.
Robert Saleh is just 18-34 as the Jets head coach over the past 3+ seasons.
Feels like that needs to be talked about more. pic.twitter.com/Gj0mXLDbgm
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) September 10, 2024
