We're going to look at the history of NY Jets general managers and grade their performance. We're taking into account drafts, coaching changes, trades, waiver moves, and as of 1993, unrestricted free agency.
Steve Sebo (1960-1961)
The first GM, hired by original owner Harry Wismer. He is not responsible for signing Don Maynard, that is on coach Sammy Baugh who had coached against Maynard in college. One highlight was he drafted linebacker Larry Grantham in the original AFL draft held in November 1959. The following draft, he selected a future Hall of Famer in a running back named Herb Adderley. Unfortunately, the Green Bay Packers outbid the Titans and he was soon converted to cornerback. The rest is history. None of his other picks really stand out. Sebo left the Titans in 1962 to become the athletic director at the University of Virginia. It certainly wasn't the last time in franchise history someone would leave the Jets for Virginia (see Al Groh).
Team record: 14-14, .500%
Grade: C+
George Sauer Sr. (1962)
In his only draft, Sauer drafted Sandy Stephens, quarterback from Minnesota, with his first round pick. However, the Jets never intended to use him as a quarterback and he headed straight to the Canadian Football League for three years. As director of player personnel, Sauer influenced the draft of his own son George Sauer as a wide receiver. Sauer remained with the Jets until 1969 when he was named general manager of the Boston Patriots
Team record: 5-9, .357%
Grade: D
Weeb Ewbank (1963-1974)
Weeb is often lauded for being the only coach to take the Jets to a Super Bowl and win it. But he is also the driving force behind constructing that roster. 1963 brought Dave Herman in Round 27 as well as the signing of Winston Hill following his release from Baltimore. 1964 gave Matt Snell in Round 1 (Weeb outbid the Giants for his services), Gerry Philbin and Ralph Baker. Weeb Ewbank also found an undrafted tackle from Hofstra named John Schmitt and moved him to center. Then came 1965 which only resulted in Joe Namath and an underrated gem in Verlon Biggs. Emerson Boozer and Pete Lammons were found late in the 1966 draft. 1969 first rounder Dave Foley became a solid right tackle, albeit for Buffalo as the Jets traded him away after two seasons.
But as was typical in the 1960's, there were many picks who signed with NFL teams since college players could be drafted by both leagues at that time. There were also first round failures such as William Yearby in 1966, whose NFL career ended after 9 games and offensive lineman Paul Seiler who left for Oakland after two seasons.
And after that Super Bowl win in 1969, Weeb is as responsible as anyone for the team coming undone in the early 1970's. A lot of players wanted more money and Weeb as GM, rarely granted it. Bob Talamini, Bill Baird, Curley Johnson, and Randy Beverly were let go for nothing. Biggs, the defensive line stalwart, exercised an option in his contract and bolted for Washington. Baker recalls that Ewbank would tell players not to disclose how much they were making to players who played the same position. And the players would tell Weeb to not worry, they were just as embarrassed about it as he was.
As for the drafts of the early 1970's, it was more miss than hit. For every John Riggins or Jerome Barkum, there would be a Steve Cannon, John Mooring, or Michael Taylor. After the team lost seven of its first eight games in 1974, Ewbank resigned as vice president and general manager.
Team record: 77-77-6, .500%
Grade: B
Al Ward (1974-1976)
The most notable thing Ward did was hire the infamous Lou Holtz as head coach, which lasted all of 14 games and left us with a dreadful fight song. His drafting, well, terrible start. 1974's number one pick was defensive tackle Carl Barzilauskas, widely panned by the NY media as a cream puff. Running back Anthony Davis was the top pick in 1975 and his career was over after 15 less than memorable games. But in 1976, he did draft Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, and Abdul Salaam (in round 7).
One other story: just four days before the start of the 1976 season, Ward and Holtz felt the Jets needed a few more players. Ward put in claims for nine players, hoping to snag a few of them. Well, he wound up with seven since almost no other team wanted any of those players. By league rule, the Jets had to add all seven to their roster and cut seven of their own players, a turnover of one-sixth of the roster!
Team record: 13-29, .310%
Grade: C-
Jim Kensil (1977-1987)
Kensil came to the Jets after serving as executive director of the NFL under Pete Rozelle from 1968-1977. The Jets began their revival under his watch, hiring Walt Michaels as head coach and drafting Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Scott Dierking, Joe Klecko, and Dan Alexander...and that was just in 1977. Later drafts, run by personnel director Mike Hickey, would bring studs like Chris Ward, Mickey Shuler, Marty Lyons, Mark Gastineau, Lance Mehl, Al Toon, and Freeman McNeil, but also first round disappointments like Johnny Lam Jones, Bob Crable, Russell Carter, Ron Faurot, Mike Haight (who was so surprised, he admitted he expected to be drafted in a later round), and of course the decision to draft Ken O'Brien ahead of Dan Marino.
While the Jets enjoyed a solid run of playoff appearances under Kensil, it cannot be overlooked that he also initiated the decision to fire Michaels just days after the Jets lost the 1982 AFC Championship game. He was also known for making swift decisions when a player criticized management. He once cut a linebacker named Bob Martin, who had criticized Michaels one day earlier. Kensil was ultimately forced to resign in 1988 due to a heart ailment and continued rooting for the Jets until his passing in 1997.
Team record: 80-85-1, .485%
Grade: B
Joe Walton (1988-1989)
Walton coached the Jets seven years, far longer than he served as general manager (18 months). His one draft yielded Dennis Byrd, Tony Martin, and Marvin Washington. Of course, his first round pick was Jeff Lageman, the video of which would end up in lore on the ESPN Jets draft failures video, prompting Mel Kiper to say that the Jets had no idea what the NFL draft is all about. Also, Mark Gastineau retired on his watch and Walton was unable to talk him out of it.
Team record: 12-19-1, .391%
Grade: C
Dick Steinberg (1990-1994)
He came over from New England, the man fully in charge taking over from a committee of managers and directors who all controlled various aspects of football operations. He hired Ron Wolf as assistant GM, who would leave for Green Bay and construct one of the great teams of the 90s. He tried to hire Mike Holmgren as coach...but he stayed in San Francisco as offensive coordinator. He quickly tried to start a new era, acquiring quarterback Boomer Esiason, former league MVP.
His drafts, well, they were remarkably mixed. His first pick: Blair Thomas, instead of Cortez Kennedy, Junior Seau, or Emmitt Smith. He also took Rob Moore, the Syracuse WR, in the supplemental, but that would cost the Jets their first round pick in 1991 and that would prove to devastate the franchise. One of the biggest what could have been stories is the 1991 draft when the Jets wanted Brett Favre early in the second round, but could not finalize a trade with Arizona to move up two spots to 32. Atlanta snatched up Favre at 33, and at 34, the Jets instead settled for Browning Nagle, who lasted 24 games in the NFL. Then came 1992, and Steinberg's first two picks were Johnny Mitchell and Kurt Barber. 1993 was a highly productive draft year, netting Marvin Jones, Fred Baxter, Adrian Murrell, and Richie Anderson. However, it was also the first year of unrestricted free agency and while the Jets hosted legendary sackmaster Reggie White, they were not able to secure him as the Minister of Defense signed with Green Bay.
Sadly, Steinberg passed away of stomach cancer in 1995.
Team record: 32-48, .400%
Grade: B-
Team record: 9-23, .281%
Grade: B
Rich Kotite (1995-1996)
Well we know the incompetence of Richie as head coach, probably only Adam Gase and Lou Holtz could be considered on such an impressive level of incompetence. At least they did draft Keyshawn Johnson on his watch. Also from that draft, Ray Mickens and Marcus Coleman were fine assets for the secondary. Going into 1996, the Jets signed quarterback Neil O'Donnell, a pair of tackles in David Williams and Jumbo Elliott, and WR Jeff Graham. Ron Erhardt came in as offensive coordinator, so the offense should have been ready to roll! The team finished 1-15 and Leon Hess cleaned house.
Team record: 4-28, .125%
Grade: C-
Bill Parcells (1997-2000)
Leon Hess wanted Parcells to cook the dinner and was willing to let him shop for the groceries. And many times, Parcells was shopping at Whole Foods. Kevin Mawae was a stalwart at center for eight years, making six Pro Bowls, as he was signed away from Seattle. He saw untapped potential in a struggling QB named Vinny Testaverde. Oh, and he signed Curtis Martin to an offer sheet, who went on to a Hall of Fame career.
The drafts? 1997 worked out well with James Farrior and Jason Ferguson picked in the 1st and 7th rounds, respectively. Dedric Ward was a nice 3rd round snag, 1998 yielded Jason Fabini at left tackle, and nothing else. 1999 gave us Randy Thomas at guard, and again, nothing else. But then the greatness of 2000. Shaun Ellis, John Abraham, Chad Pennington, Anthony Becht, and Laveranues Coles, maybe the best draft in franchise history.
Team record: 38-26, .593%
Grade: A-
Terry Bradway (2001-2005)
After Parcells stepped away and Leon Hess sold the team to Woody Johnson, Bradway came in as GM with Herman Edwards as head coach. Things started off well, his first draft resulting in Santana Moss, Lamont Jordan, and Kareem McKenzie. 2002 wasn't too bad, as they got Bryan Thomas, Chris Baker, and a safety named Jon McGraw, though another safety named Ed Reed was available to be picked instead of Thomas.
Following the Jets having their magical division winning season, hopes were high going into 2003. Bradway had a disastrous offseason, losing Laveranues Coles, Chad Morton, Randy Thomas, and John Hall, all to Washington. To replace Coles, Bradway signed Justin McCareins, surrendering a second round pick and giving McCareins 7 years and $30 million. In four seasons with the Jets, McCareins caught a total of seven touchdowns and failed to surpass 800 yards in a season. The other WR added? Curtis Conway, who caught 46 passes and 1 touchdown and was promptly released.
And the draft that year wasn't much better as he packaged two first round picks and a 4 to move up to 4th overall and draft DT Dewayne Robertson, who didn't even play 100 games in the NFL. 2004 was much better, as the team drafted Jonathan Vilma, Jerricho Cotchery, and Erik Coleman. But coming off the Jets run to the AFC divisional round that was lost in Pittsburgh in large part to kicking woes, Bradway would have one last disaster in 2005. He traded a first round pick for a mediocre at best tight end in Doug Jolley, and then drafted kicker Mike Nugent in the second round.
Credit to him, he held onto a scouting job in the organization until 2014.
Team record: 35-41, 460%
Grade: D
Mike Tannenbaum (2006-2012)
Mr. T got his process off to a flying start, with the infamous Nick and Brick draft, taking D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold, solidifying the Jets offensive line. That same draft would also give the Jets Brad Smith and Leon Washington. In 2007, they only had 4 picks, but one of those would picks would be the great Darrelle Revis, one of the best defensive players in team history. Another was David Harris, who would play 164 games at linebacker for the Jets. This year began a trend of the Jets having only a few picks in most years, leaving little room for error. They had only 3 picks in 2009 and 4 in 2010. Muhammad Wilkerson got off to a great start in his career before flaming out. Kyle Wilson, a complete bust. DeMario Davis was a fine 3rd round pick in 2012, although his most productive days would come in New Orleans. Unfortunately, before him, the Jets drafted Quinton Coples and Stephen Hill in the first two rounds.
Free agency started off well, Alen Faneca was a fantastic signing at left guard. Kris Jenkins was a tremendous run stuffing defensive tackle until injuries slowed him down. And the signings became frustrating in the later years. In 2011, the Jets let Jerricho Cotchery go and replaced him with 37 year old Derrick Mason, which failed spectacularly, as he would be gone after two months. They also invested 5 years and $45 million in Santonio Holmes instead of Braylon Edwards. His pursuit of Nnamdi Asomugah opened the door for versatile weapon Brad Smith to bolt for Buffalo.
Team record: 57-55, .508%
Grade: B
John Idzik (2013-2014)
Let's keep this brief as possible. The best thing he ever did was trade for Chris Ivory. Sheldon Richardson and Brian Winters were okay picks, Dee Milliner was not. Geno Smith was not. The infamous Idzik 12 of the 2014 draft resulted in two players who could even be considered marginal, in Quincy Enunwa and Dakota Dozier, a career backup who is the only player of the 12 to play in at least 50 NFL games.
Team record: 12-20, .375%
Grade: F
The name garners a lot of hate amongst Jaets faithful, and indeed, his drafting largely failed. Leonard Williams was a decent defensive lineman, but never the difference maker Jets fans hoped he'd be. He did have one Pro Bowl season for the Giants in 2020 after being traded, but regressed to his decent form in 2021. Decent role players were found in Jordan Jenkins and Brandon Shell, but underachievers such as Darron Lee, Sam Darnold, and Devin Smith will make many a Jet fan groan. As opposed to previous GMs who would draft multiple offensive linemen with premium picks, MacCagnan drafted just one in five drafts: Chuma Edoga.
The biggest mistake may have been drafting Christian Hackenberg. He had shown bright spots his freshman year at Penn St, but backslid his next two seasons. While admired for his intelligence in the film room, it didn't translate to production on the field. His passes were never accurate on a consistent level. He never played a regular season game for the Jets and was gone after two years. Here's the worst part. Because of the Jets believing in Hack's potential, they saw no need to draft a DeShaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes in the following year's draft.
Trumaine Johnson was one of the worst free agency signings the Jets ever had, as he got beat up legendary receivers such as the Bills' Robert Foster. $72 million over 5 years with $34 million guaranteed. Starting with the 2022 season, the Jets are no longer paying Johnson to not be on the team.
Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye are both fine safeties, but to use your first two picks on safety just never made any sense. On the positive side, Foley Fatukasi was a 6th round gem.
Team record: 24-40, .375%
Grade: D
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