The NFL Jets Friday named Seahawks VP/Football Administration John Idzik GM, the “fourth in the last 13 years and the third" in Owner Woody Johnson's era, according to Conor Orr of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. The team “hopes his expertise in salary cap planning and contract negotiations will bail them out of their most immediate problem -- a budget situation so dreary that some GM candidates were scared away.” After “sitting through 10 candidate interviews over two weeks, the Jets feel they have the right mix in Idzik” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/20). The “decision was made” by Johnson with assistance from President Neil Glat and Korn/Ferry Int'l Vice Chair Jed Hughes. Idzik will be introduced at a press conference Thursday at 11:00am ET (NJ.com, 1/18). The Johnson Company President Ira Akselrad was “in for several” of the interviews (AP, 1/18). In N.Y., Manish Mehta wrote Idzik’s “expertise lies in contract negotiations and salary-cap navigation rather than scouting and personnel.” He will have “final say on personnel matters” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/19).
INTO THE FIRE: ESPN N.Y.’s Rich Cimini noted the Jets “will be criticized because it's an extension of the Mike Tannenbaum model, and he was fired at the end of the season.” Idzik “was a regular in personnel meetings, but he devoted most of his time to the business side” (ESPNNY.com, 1/19). On Long Island, Kimberley Martin wrote, “Those rushing to run John Idzik out of town may want to reconsider.” An NFL agent said, “Great hire, in my opinion.” Martin noted the Jets “seem to have found a new GM who strikes a balance between both worlds” (NEWSDAY, 1/19). In N.Y., Steve Serby wrote, “The knee-jerk reaction is to pan the selection.” But “let’s give this guy a chance.” Idzik’s mother, Joyce, said, “I think he’ll do fine. ... I just hope that he likes it. He’s always been a kind of private person, and you can’t do that in the New York market. But he does know that” (N.Y. POST, 1/19).
