New York Jets to Fire Rex Ryan After 2012 NFL Season?

By TPR Staff

Once thought as the man to save the franchise, it may be time for the New York Jets to consider firing head coach Rex Ryan following another disappointing season in which he failed to guarantee on yet another Super Bowl victory. Now, his first big signing when he joined the Jets has been granted permission to seek a trade.

Bart Scott, who Ryan personally vouched for as the one defensive player who could help the Jets get to the Super Bowl, has now been given permission to look for a team willing to deal for him, although that could be made difficult considering how much guaranteed money he has remaining on his contract.

When Ryan was named head coach of the Jets back prior to the 2009 season, he convinced the team to sign Scott to a six year deal worth $48 million. Scott did restructure his contract last season to help the Jets with salary cap issues, but he still has a lot of guaranteed money remaining on what he is owed. And considering the fact that he was removed on many third downs last season because the team felt he was not in good enough shape to remain on the field, moving him will be as challenging of a task as it has been to shut the loud mouth of the team’s head coach.

That brings up the following question.

If the Jets fail to deliver once again, is it time for New York to fire Ryan?

It may be time for the team to move on from the Ryan experiment, and perhaps clean house altogether. While the Jets do have some valuable pieces in place for a future title run, the current staff and roster does not appear capable of finishing the job.

Sure, a pair of AFC Championship games were nice, but look what this team has done to improve, and they are still not performing up to potential, especially when you consider where their salary cap lies, making it very difficult for the team to make many changes.

But it isn’t just Ryan. General manager Mike Tannenbaum has brought in some decent players, but at the same time, he has also brought in many head cases. The team already has an unstable quarterback who has been a rather large bust to this point in Mark Sanchez, and pairing him up with such players as Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress is not going to make matters better, as was clearly the case last season when the team blew up down the stretch and failed to even reach the postseason.

The defense, which is lauded by Ryan as the team’s best feature, has been a bust as well. Sure, they look great in some games, but they come up short when it counts far too often. And with an offense as inept as New York’s, the defense simply must play better. The team can continue to blame former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer all they want, but he was not the one who made terrible decisions with the football and failed to barely run for four yards per carry.

The bottom line is that in the NFL, it is all about the here and now. Yes, Ryan came in highly touted from the Baltimore Ravens. Tannenbaum was also thought highly of, and the team moved up to draft Sanchez and spent a lot of money on Sanchez and Holmes and Scott.

It isn’t working, and it is time for a change.

So, unless owner Woody Johnson is either foolish enough or senile enough to keep believing Ryan when he guarantees another Super Bowl run, then he needs to watch the 2012 NFL season with a close eye and open mind to making some drastic changes if the Jets and Ryan fail to deliver on their promises yet again.

Besides, it is not as if he is winning any popularity contest for the team as it is, so if can’t even bring success to the organization, then it is time for a change.

Or better yet, multiple changes, starting at the top and trickling down to the players.

Tick tock, Woody. Tick tock, Rex.

 

Filed under: AFC, AFC East, Breaking News, NFL

Tagged with: Bart Scott, Mark Sanchez, Mike Tannenbaum, New York Jets, Plaxico Burress, Rex Ryan, Santonio Holmes, Woody Johnson