Report: Jets used unusual measures to force out assistant Rick Dennison

The New York Jets are once again in hot water for how they allegedly treated one of their former assistant coaches.

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the Jets may be forced into arbitration with former offensive line coach and run game coordinator Rick Dennison over tactics allegedly meant to force Dennison to quit. 

The Jets reportedly tried to reassign Dennison to a scouting position in order to compel him to quit, which would have forced him to forfeit roughly $1 million. Coach Adam Gase reportedly did not discuss the possible realignment with Dennison, though Gase publicly claimed he did.

The Jets technically followed the reassignment clause in Dennison’s contract, but attempting to save money by forcing a coach into a different position they don’t want him to take is an unusual move. The Daily News assessed 11 general managers, executives and agents within the league, and 10 felt the Jets were using underhanded tactics to save money by not paying Dennison.

“They owe him the money,” one source said to Mehta. “Don’t think other coaches aren’t watching stuff like this. They need to resolve it. They need to stop being the Jets.”

The Jets have been involved in a lot of messy off-field issues during the past year. Dennison’s is just the latest that portrays the organization as being cheap and unfair, and it’s not going to help their reputation within the sport.