Jets, assistant GM to part ways

As the Jets enter a do-or-die 2024, one of their top front office staffers is no longer part of the plan. The Jets are splitting with assistant GM Rex Hogan, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes, who describes this as a mutual separation.

Hogan has spent the past four years with the Jets, being hired to join Joe Douglas‘ staff back in 2019. Hogan has enjoyed two Jets stints over the past decade. Mike Maccagnan hired him upon taking over as GM in 2015, adding Hogan as his director of college scouting. After a subsequent run with the Colts, the Jets brought back the veteran exec under Douglas.

The team is still waiting for Douglas’ plan to come to fruition, with the Zach Wilson investment being a seminal moment during the regime’s tenure. Hogan is believed to have joined former OC Mike LaFleur in pushing hard for the former BYU prospect. 

Considering Wilson’s standing with the Jets after three woeful seasons — the most recent of which included a story in which he may or may not have expressed hesitancy about returning to action — it would not be surprising to see this as an issue for the Jets and the staffers who expressed the staunchest support for the bust-in-progress.

Some among the Jets viewed Wilson as a developmental arm at that point and unworthy of the No. 2 pick, and the prospect of giving Sam Darnold a fourth year and looking elsewhere in the 2021 first round was endorsed by parts of the organization. 

Ultimately, Wilson became the choice. That decision has defined Douglas’ tenure. Hogan remains respected around the league, however, Hughes adds.

The Jets are giving Douglas, Robert Saleh and OC Nathaniel Hackett another year. Woody Johnson has effectively signed off on a mulligan associated with the Aaron Rodgers injury. 

The Jets will undoubtedly clean house if the 2024 season goes poorly. As Douglas makes offseason plans, he will be in search of another top lieutenant.