New York Jets

The New York Jets hired Robert Saleh as their head coach this offseason, but the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator was apparently a popular choice in the Houston Texans locker room as well.

Peter King broke down the situation in his latest Football Morning in America column, noting Saleh was a favorite of Deshaun Watson's. What's more, the team not interviewing him for its head coaching vacancy before ultimately hiring David Culley "turned off the locker room."

It reportedly wasn't the only source of contention inside Houston's locker room, as King reported Houston's decision to keep executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby "further soured the players, including Watson."

According to the report, "even some respected veterans on the teams have, in effect, told Watson, Go ahead. Go. We love you. We don't want you to get trapped here. You don't owe us anything."

Whether the Texans ultimately trade Watson will be one of the biggest stories of the entire offseason.

He is just 25 years old, has three Pro Bowl selections in four years and led the NFL in passing yards in 2020. He is the franchise cornerstone, and it will surely cost another team plenty in any potential trade even if Watson is unhappy in Houston.

As for Saleh, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise players inside the Texans locker room would have liked him as their coach. He always seemingly brings the energy on the sidelines and helped lead the 49ers to last season's Super Bowl behind a stout defense that finished second in the league in yards allowed.

He is also just 42 years old and could have connected more with the younger players.

Culley, 65, has been in the NFL since 1994 and has experience as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baltimore Ravens.

Robert Saleh isn't wasting any time in trying to win over New York Jets fans. 

Appearing on the Huddle & Flow podcast with Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter on Friday (h/t SNY.tv's Ryan Morik), Saleh said that Jets fans are "more invested" in their team than the New York Giants fanbase: 

“The fan base is so passionate. We always make fun of Michigan for kind of being more the uppity-ups, sit on your hands, where the Spartan fans are a little bit more rambunctious, a little bit more passionate, a little bit more—they're louder...

"When we've played the Jets in the past versus the Giants—no disrespect to them, they're absolutely a phenomenal franchise. But the Jets' fan base... feels more invested... in the way they are just so passionate about their team.”

Saleh has been an assistant coach in the NFL since 2006, but he made a name for himself over the past four seasons as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.

The 41-year-old also became a prominent figure during San Francisco's run to the Super Bowl last year thanks to his top-10 defense in yards and points allowed and his enthusiastic sideline celebrations. 

The Jets fired Adam Gase following a 2-14 record in 2020, and they hired Saleh as head coach Jan. 15. He has a large task ahead with a franchise trying to end a 10-year playoff drought, but endearing himself to Jets fans early can't hurt.           

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh appears to be a believer in Sam Darnold. 

"He is an unbelievable talent," Saleh said on the Huddle and Flow podcast with Steve Wyche and Jim Trotter. "There's a reason why he was the third overall pick. Just watch the tape. Production aside, just watch the player. He's got tremendous mobility. He's got arm talent, fearless, smart, and he's a quick, precise decision-maker. He's loved in the locker room, and people adore him around this building." 

Darnold's future with the Jets is up in the air as the team explores potential options at the quarterback position. While their late-season, two-game winning streak took them out of the running for Trevor Lawrence, the Jets could target BYU's Zach Wilson or Ohio State's Justin Fields with their first-round pick.

Darnold's development stagnated in Adam Gase's two years as Jets coach. The USC product threw for 2,208 yards and nine touchdowns against 11 interceptions this season, ranking near the bottom in every major measurement of quarterback evaluation. 

While the Jets' lack of skill-position talent and Gase's struggles to build a cogent offense played a factor, Darnold simply wasn't very good at anything in 2020. Darnold had the NFL's worst air yards differential among starters and completed 3.2 percent less of his passes than expected, per NFL NextGen Stats. Only Carson Wentz had a worse rating under Football Outsiders' DYAR metric.

Mike LaFleur followed Saleh to New York to serve as his offensive coordinator and is expected to install an offensive system similar to the one ran in San Francisco. Saleh said he believes Darnold could fit in well with the system due to his mobility. 

"If you look at it, he would instantly become the most mobile quarterback that the system’s ever had aside from maybe Jake Plummer when he with Denver," Saleh said. "Just from a mobility standpoint, to be able to create off schedule the way he does, he’d probably be one of the better ones that the system’s ever had."

While Darnold is not a stiff as an athlete, few would call him an accomplished scrambler, either. He is more mobile than Jimmy Garoppolo but far less so than Wilson or Fields, both of whom could benefit from a run-first scheme as they get their feet wet in the NFL.

The Jets also have the draft capital for a potential trade with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson, though it's unclear if Watson would want to play for a team that was 2-14 last season. Watson has a no-trade clause in his contract. 

Little more than a week after he was fired for cause by the University of Tennessee, there are conflicting reports about the job status of former Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his connection to the New York Jets. 

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the 46-year-old was "working on a deal" to join the Jets staff, but Connor Hughes of The Athletic and Rich Cimini of ESPN later refuted that report. 

In response to the initial report that Pruitt would join Robert Saleh's staff in the Meadowlands, Cimini had pegged Pruitt as the team's defensive backs coach. The former Alabama defensive coordinator, who worked with Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, has never coached in the NFL. 

Pruitt led the Volunteers for three seasons, taking over for Butch Jones when he was fired in 2017. Josh Heupel was announced Wednesday as Pruitt's replacement.

While Tennessee went just 16-19 through three seasons under Prutt, including a 3-7 campaign in 2020, it was a recruiting scandal that ultimately cemented his legacy with the Vols. According to Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel, an investigation into the program "revealed evidence of sweeping and serious NCAA violations," with the expectation that they will result in "multiple NCAA Level I and/or Level II violations." 

Pruitt is the only Tennessee football head coach to be fired for cause, per Toppmeyer. 

A pair of assistant coaches, Brian Niedermeyer and Shelton Felton, as well as seven members of the program's recruiting, personnel and support staff, also lost their jobs. Athletics director and former football head coach Phillip Fulmer also left the university.

The New York Jets are "willing to listen" to a Detroit Lions trade offer for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft as the quarterback market begins to heat up, according to ESPN's Rich Cimini.

Saturday's news that Detroit Lions QB Matt Stafford requested a trade could have the Jets looking to take advantage of the situation if the long-time starter is willing to play for New York.

Cimini noted Stafford could serve as an option for the Jets if they do indeed decide to move on from Sam Darnold—who's signed through 2021 with an option for 2022. That also assumes the Jets are not going to be able to acquire Houston Texans star Deshaun Watson, whose relationship with his team is tenuous at best lately.

Stafford still has two years, $43 million on his contract but would provide the type of big arm, experienced quarterback the Jets have longed for.

Considering Detroit holds the No. 7 pick, moving up to No. 2 in a year with a loaded quarterback class could entice the Lions should they find a prospect worth moving up for. But the abundance of passers may be reason enough for the Lions to stay put at No. 7.

The six teams ahead of Detroit—aside from the Jets—are all set at quarterback. The Miami Dolphins have Tua Tagovailoa, the Atlanta Falcons are set with Matt Ryan, Joe Burrow is still the Cincinnati Bengals' future and the Philadelphia Eagles look set to role with Jalen Hurts or Carson Wentz next year.

As the market for Stafford begins to unfold, the Jets may be tested by how much they're willing to give up to land a 32-year-old quarterback in an AFC East they aren't particularly close to competing in.

The New York Jets could still move on from Sam Darnold this offseason, but new head coach Robert Saleh has a lot of respect for the young quarterback.

"What I can tell you with regards to Sam is he's got an unbelievable arm talent," Saleh told reporters at his introductory press conference Thursday. "There's a reason why he was the No. 3 pick in the draft. He's fearless in the pocket. He's got a natural throwing motion. He's mobile. He's extremely intelligent. He's tough as nails. His reputation in the locker room is unquestioned."

Darnold was taken third overall in 2018 and flashed a lot of potential in three seasons, including in 2019 when he totaled 3,024 passing yards and 19 touchdowns in 13 games.

He seemingly took a step back this past year, however, finishing with just nine passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions and a career-low 72.7 rating. With the Jets struggling to a 2-14 record, many suspect the squad will start fresh and use the No. 2 pick of the draft on a new franchise quarterback.

Saleh said Thursday it would be "premature" to make any decision about the position now, but his latest praise could be a good sign for the 23-year-old signal-caller.

Woody Johnson will return to the New York Jets as the organization's chairman, according to Kim Jones of NFL Network, after serving as the United States ambassador to Great Britain for the Donald Trump administration.

Since 2017, when Woody Johnson was appointed as an ambassador, his brother Christopher Johnson served as chairman and CEO. Christopher Johnson will now serve as vice chairman. 

Per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Christopher Johnson will "remain heavily involved in day-to-day operations, but Woody reassumes principal ownership duties."

Woody Johnson, 73, purchased the Jets in 2000 for $635 million. As of September 2020, the Jets were worth an estimated $3.55 billion, per Forbes. Under his watch, however, the Jets have reached the postseason just six times and have had nine winning seasons. The team did reach back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010 during the Rex Ryan era. 

Woody Johnson was not without controversy during his ambassadorship. In August, the State Department inspector general investigated Johnson, stating he "sometimes made inappropriate or insensitive comments on topics generally considered Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-sensitive, such as religion, sex, or color."

"If I have unintentionally offended anyone in the execution of my duties, I deeply regret that," Johnson said in response to the State Department's report.

Trump also reportedly asked Johnson to convince the British government to "steer" the British Open to Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland, per Mark Landler, Lara Jakes and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times. According to that report:

"The ambassador's deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, advised him not to do it, warning that it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, these people said. But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell."

While the British government released a statement saying no conversations regarding the British Open took place, the reported situation "left Mr. Lukens and other diplomats deeply unsettled."