Breer: Douglas speaks on why Jets traded Darnold

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/04/08/inside-story-of-why-jets-traded-darnold-new-qb-search

Long but good read. Really get a sense of how Douglas is thinking through all this.

The first thing you need to know about how the Jets arrived at the decision they did is that, in a normal year, they might’ve pulled the trigger a lot sooner than April 5. In fact, about a week before free agency, Douglas had a deal on the table that was good enough to move on. At that point, the first flash point for the Darnold market—the late January trade that sent Matthew Stafford from Detroit to L.A.—had generated interest from eight teams (Carolina was among the eight), and one had emerged with an offer that was at least in the ballpark of what the Jets were looking for.

The problem was, at that point, the Jets just weren’t there yet on the crew of quarterbacks who’d be available to them at No. 2. Sure, they’d done a lot of work by then. But in a normal year, at that early March juncture, they’d have already seen the guys throw at the combine and maybe a private workout or all-star game, interviewed them in person in Indy and collected all of their medical information. And those, in 2021, were boxes still unchecked.

“It was a strong offer,” Douglas says. “We told them, Look, there’s still a lot of boxes left to check. And we just don’t feel comfortable, in case something happens with one of the top two guys, we don’t want to get caught in a bad situation, like one of two guys fails a physical and then we don’t have Sam. So we didn’t do anything.”

But right in there, you’ll also see that, to a certain degree, the Jets had already zeroed in on who their target would be at 2—and that was a result of a lot of work done in the aftermath of the Jan. 14 hire of Saleh. And at that point, based on their work through the interview process, with Saleh and others, the Jets had come to the conclusion that Darnold would be a solid scheme fit for the Shanahan system that new OC Mike LaFleur was bringing.

“Everyone thought Sam would do well in this offensive scheme,” Douglas says.

That much was confirmed during the first phase of Saleh and Douglas’s first offseason together, a thorough roster review by the staffs of each guy. From there, the Jets went in on Saleh’s staff presenting profile tapes to teach the personnel staff what they were looking for at every position and, after that, Douglas accelerated the team’s quarterback evaluation process—asking that Saleh, LaFleur, pass-game specialist Greg Knapp and QBs coach Rob Calabrese watch the top five quarterbacks independently.

Douglas learned in having been around three young first-round quarterbacks before (Kyle Boller and Joe Flacco in Baltimore, and Carson Wentz in Philly), and having seen the draft run-up for two (Boller and Flacco), the importance of building consensus. So he thought that it was important that the Jets reach a pure consensus, with everyone forming and then presenting their own opinions, before they’d talk through the quarterbacks as a group.

“Our process leading up to taking Joe was awesome,” Douglas said. “The level of buy-in that was created by Cam [Cameron] and Hue [Jackson], their passion throughout the process of evaluating quarterbacks, and back then it was Matt Ryan and Joe and [Chad] Henne and [Brian] Brohm, they were all-in on that process, and we were able to create a consensus on who were the top three or four guys in that draft class. So once the pick was made, everybody was all-in.”

And the result of the early part of this process, in getting through the tape?

“It was a clear-cut top two quarterbacks for us,” Douglas says. “And there was a consensus. At that point, we felt good about our options, like, O.K., we have two starting quarterbacks. Whether it’s Sam, the rookie or both, we feel really good about this.”

Also, there was this twist—the Jets decided that they weren’t going to shop Darnold or the second pick, instead letting teams come to them. Through that early stage, post-Stafford, eight did come to the Jets on Darnold. Remarkably, none came looking for the second pick.

But at that point, what was most relevant was closing the files on the draft prospects.

And again, if this were 2020, the Jets would’ve met Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance and Mac Jones, seen them throw live (they actually had seen Trevor Lawrence throw live at that point, because of his early pro day), and gotten their medicals by then. But lacking that, following the Stafford flashpoint, came the first big decision, which was to walk away from what was on the table for them.

“Any other year, we would’ve had all that information right when that offer was made,” Douglas says. “And in all likelihood, he would’ve been on that other team. But then again, who knows if that offer is made at that point in another year?”

In waiting, of course, there was a level of risk. Free agency would start, plans would be made, suitors would fall off. And so the initial group—San Francisco inquired in February and early March, and Washington and Denver had touched base (though their interest was tepid)—would necessarily be thinned by the time Lance (March 12), Jones (March 23), Wilson (March 26) and Fields (March 30) threw at their respective pro days.

Why was so important for Douglas to see those guys throw live?

“I don’t know how every team approaches a quarterback [evaluation], but I’ve always thought it was a golden rule—you don’t ever take a quarterback until you stand near or next to a guy and watch him throw the football,” Douglas says. “None of the top brass were able to get out to a BYU game this year. There were no all-star games, no combine. You could see Mac Jones at the Senior Bowl. But other than that, your only opportunity to stand there and watch them throw was at a pro day.

“To me, that’s huge for a quarterback.”

So Douglas was on the ground in Fargo, Tuscaloosa, Provo and Columbus. He got to see how Lance, Jones, Wilson and Fields carry themselves, how they interact with their teammates, how they’re physically built, what type of shape they’re in and most of all he got more on who the guys were as passers that he couldn’t see on a digital recording.

“Almost every pro day I went to I got something out of,” Douglas says. “A guy like Trey Lance, I thought Trey Lance had a strong arm, I walked away from North Dakota State saying, Wow, this guy has better arm talent than I thought on the tape. Getting a sense for it, watching the ball come out of his hand, you’re there, field-level, you’re seeing it—Does the ball drop at all at the end of the throw, is it accelerating through the guy’s hands? You really get a sense for that, that you wouldn’t normally see on tape.”

Throughout draft season, Douglas, Saleh and LaFleur held Zoom meetings not just with the Top 5 quarterbacks, but pretty much the entire class at the position, which allowed the Jets to fire football-specific questions at the guys—What was your progression here? What were your checks at the line? What was your call in the huddle?

 

They could test the guys’ recall, and whether they took ownership of bad decisions. They could get a feel for how the quarterbacks would match the culture Saleh is building.

And, also, through that period, the Jets’ trainers were trading medical information with other teams’ trainers. The league’s medical combine is actually this week in Indy, and ideally the Jets would’ve liked to have waited for that too, but they got to the point where there wasn’t a pressing need to.

“Even though the box isn’t fully checked,” Douglas says. “We’ve been able to gather a lot more information.”

Which, ultimately, allowed for the final stages of the trade to materialize.

---

The Panthers were first in touch about Darnold in mid-February, after an offer of the eighth overall pick, a fifth-rounder and Teddy Bridgewater for Stafford fell short of what the Lions wound up getting from the Rams for their quarterback. And thereafter, because of strong relationships Douglas had with the Carolina brass, trust and communication between the teams kept the light for a Darnold trade on.

Douglas got to know Matt Rhule during the coach’s last year at Temple, which was Douglas’s first in Philadelphia, with Rhule coming over to watch Eagles practice from time-to-time. He knew Panthers GM Scott Fitterer from their time together as road scouts on the college trail. And he actually helped to hire the Panthers director of player personnel, Pat Stewart, as a national scout in Philly in 2018.

It also helped that Carolina was patient through the Jets’ process. And just as the idea of another strong run at Deshaun Watson became clouded by the Texans quarterback’s legal situation, another flashpoint hit—the 49ers were making an aggressive move up the board, trading with the Dolphins to get from 12 to three and land their rookie quarterback, while giving the Jets the knowledge they’d lost a potential trade partner.

Also, as luck would have it, the Jets and Panthers were actually together at Wilson’s pro day in Provo as that deal was being finalized. So Douglas talked with Rhule and Fitterer in Utah about Darnold. And those talks, with the Jets having just lost a suitor and the Panthers now facing dwindling odds of landing a quarterback they valued at eight, sparked new momentum.

Because of the trust between the sides, Douglas recalls the conversation being easy—“All three of those [Panthers] guys are great guys, straight shooters, no B.S., and so I think it kind of matches my approach.”

Douglas and Fitterer talked again on the night of March 29, after both arrived in Columbus for Fields’s Pro Day, and then Douglas talked with Fitterer, Rhule and Stewart again inside the field house at Ohio State after Fields got done throwing. All of which timed up nicely. Just as the final box was being checked, and Douglas and LaFleur were seeing the last quarterback throw, a Darnold trade was coming to life.

And less than a week later, it was done. As I’ve heard it, the Jets were looking to get a return of a little more than what the Cardinals got for Josh Rosen in 2019 (low second-round pick, plus a fifth-rounder) or what the Patriots got for Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017 (a high second-round pick).

In the end, the compromise they were willing to do with Carolina to get there, at least on paper, is easy to see. The Panthers gave them second-round and fourth-round picks for next year, in addition to a sixth-rounder this year. So Douglas got his price, and Darnold got his fresh start.

---

Douglas won’t say yet who he’s taking, but it’s not hard to read the tea leaves and assume that it’ll be Wilson. Saleh was present in Provo, and on a media Zoom call when presented with the news that ex-Cougar QB Steve Young said that the Jets had committed to taking Wilson, Douglas responded that “Steve’s plugged in pretty well at BYU.”

But regardless of who the quarterback is, there are some inalienable truths about where the process of choosing that quarterback (remember, Douglas said there was a “top two,” and assuming one of the two is Lawrence, this decision has essentially been made) has taken the franchise and its general manager, and realities that making this decision has forced Douglas confront. In there, you’ll find that …

The Jets had to be comfortable that their choice at two could play right away. In trading Darnold, they dealt the one experienced quarterback on the roster. And sure, they could bring in a system fit like Brian Hoyer to be a potential placeholder, but even that would assure very little. Remember, Douglas has been here with first-round QBs three times—and in all three, plans to sit them as rookies blew up on the fly. The result? Each guy was starting games in September of his rookie year.

“Those were the conversations—how do you want to handle it?” Douglas says. “Do you want to handle it like Kansas City did with [Patrick] Mahomes? Like the Chargers and Miami did with Tua [Tagovailoa] and [Justin]Herbert? Or do you want to handle it like [Joe] Burrow in Cincinnati? Whatever you decide, you have to be all in on the decision.”

Part of how the rookie performs will ride on how much you ask of him. Douglas, to be sure, knows that part is on him, his staff, and the coaches. He has history with that, too, having been the area scout assigned to Delaware in Flacco’s draft year. That fall, Flacco did play well in getting the Ravens to the AFC title game. But a huge part of that was Baltimore being really good around him.

“Joe wasn’t slated to start that year, Troy Smith’s sickness got Joe in,” Douglas says. “But we had the pieces around him so we didn’t throw Joe out and say, Go drop back 30 times and throw for 300 yards and win us games. He was put in position, with a great run game and defense and special teams, to, Hey, don’t try to win the game, just rely on your teammates, play good ball. And we ended up going 12–4 that year and going to the AFC title game.”

New York factored into the decision too. Douglas didn’t raise the Smith-Mahomes comparison by mistake. It was something the Jets talked about and, ultimately, decided wouldn’t be right for Darnold or for the team.

“There were two sides,” Douglas says. “We can have Sam, we can have the rookie quarterback, they could coexist and be like the Alex Smith–Mahomes situation. But the reality is Alex Smith was much further in his career than Sam and Kansas City’s a lot different than New York. The thinking was, In a perfect world, this would be the way to handle it—Sam has a great year in a new offensive system, and we can reevaluate it, and we won’t have to push the rookie out on the field.

“But just knowing what the day-to-day aspect would be next year if we did that, with a first-year head coach, the rookie, Sam, the team, the locker room, we just felt like that really wasn’t the best situation for all parties.”

The flip side—the rookie will now have to deal with the same challenges that Darnold did in the way he’s covered, and Douglas, Saleh & Co. had to make sure whoever they pick would be built to handle that.

Finances matter too, and will continue to. In taking a quarterback at 2, the Jets will reset the clock. Instead of having one more year of affordable, rookie-contract quarterbacking before having to make a call on Darnold, they’ll have four. Which, of course, will allow them another shot at building in a way they couldn’t around Darnold.

“That’s definitely a factor,” Douglas says, “getting to hit the reset button financially.”

And that brings us back to the first reality we presented in this column: Douglas really does like Darnold—“This was not an easy decision at all.” He likes him as a player still, and genuinely sees him succeeding in Carolina. He loves him as a person.

That’s why, when I brought up the dichotomy of Douglas saying, as he did to the New York media, that he’ll root for Darnold in Carolina it came back to his overriding feeling that Darnold is “an awesome, awesome person.”

“Whether I look bad or not [for trading Darnold], I could give two s---s about that,” Douglas says, with a laugh. “I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn’t turn this around fast enough for him. And that’s not his fault. I root for good people, and that dude’s a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that.”

And, clearly, he feels similarly about someone else, too. Soon enough, we’ll all know who.

 

[Patriot Killa]

11 minutes ago, Samtorobby47 said:

“Whether I look bad or not [for trading Darnold], I could give two s---s about that,” Douglas says, with a laugh. “I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn’t turn this around fast enough for him. And that’s not his fault. I root for good people, and that dude’s a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that.”

 

You gotta love this. “I don’t give a sh*t what I look like in the media, I know what I’m doing & I did what I did.”

[slats]

I like the way Joe Douglas goes about his business but, as always, it comes down to how he drafts. The QB he takes at #2 will be his defining moment, and I’m sure he’s aware of that. 

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

17 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

You gotta love this. “I don’t give a sh*t what I look like in the media, I know what I’m doing & I did what I did.”

Big JD is feeling loose. I love it. 

[K_O_Brien]

"It was a clear-cut top two quarterbacks for us. And there was a consensus".

Like other GMs, it sounds like Joe has a gap between his top two QBs and the rest.  

 

[RedBeardedSavage]

Douglas is a likable character, that's for sure. 

This is a big year for him. 

Hired a coach, about to pick a quarterback second overall and has accumulated a war chest of draft capital.

Don't f*** this up. 

 

[static14]

could this finally be the GM, Coach, and QB to turn sh*t around? I really hope so. JD makes you wanna believe.

[Grandy]

Great article. Looks like we're really doing our homework and I like the consensus thing. Also something really important is the tidbit about meeting players.

I'm sure we met with someone who blew us away with regards to brains, character and talent which is really important.

A lot of raw, high-end talents have been succeeding lately off brains and hard work. The guy we draft has to check off character and mental boxes, and it looks like we have 2 of those guys.

[Jet Nut]

5 minutes ago, static14 said:

could this finally be the GM, Coach, and QB to turn sh*t around? I really hope so. JD makes you wanna believe.

He does and if he has the chops to do the job it will be enjoyable to watch given his personality

[slats]

23 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

You gotta love this. “I don’t give a sh*t what I look like in the media, I know what I’m doing & I did what I did.”

The other thing I really like about that quote is that he clearly understands that he didn’t/wasn’t able to do enough to support Darnold since he arrived in June of 2019. It’s understanding like that which should lead him to build around (presumably) ZW further with this draft. Seems to me that there’s a consensus in the building that we haven’t seen since Bill Parcells was dictator. 

[jetophile]

24 minutes ago, slats said:

I like the way Joe Douglas goes about his business but, as always, it comes down to how he drafts. The QB he takes at #2 will be his defining moment, and I’m sure he’s aware of that. 

How about it's my defining moment, your defining moment, the defining moment of the kid pushing carts in the Price Chopper parking lot trying to make an honest buck. I'm sick of this chit. Parsing, parsing, parsing, it's like a mental illness that we all expend so much energy on this team. At games, from afar, in the news . . . um, so what are you doing on Draft Day? Asking for a friend. 

[Patriot Killa]

4 minutes ago, slats said:

The other thing I really like about that quote is that he clearly understands that he didn’t/wasn’t able to do enough to support Darnold since he arrived in June of 2019. It’s understanding like that which should lead him to build around (presumably) ZW further with this draft. Seems to me that there’s a consensus in the building that we haven’t seen since Bill Parcells was dictator. 

Exactly how I perceived it, my good friend.
 

Also..this tweet gave me chills. They finally get it.

[K_O_Brien]

3 minutes ago, slats said:

The other thing I really like about that quote is that he clearly understands that he didn’t/wasn’t able to do enough to support Darnold since he arrived in June of 2019. It’s understanding like that which should lead him to build around (presumably) ZW further with this draft. Seems to me that there’s a consensus in the building that we haven’t seen since Bill Parcells was dictator. 

Which was a reflection of the previously flawed reporting structure. This time last year, Douglas must have known the limitations of Gase, and the negative impact he was having on Darnold. But he couldn't fire him, even if he wanted to. 

Douglas may reflect that he could have done more for Sam - maybe could have signed Conklin or traded for a receiver when we were losing guys to injuries - but I'm not sure this would have been enough to have made enough of a difference. At some point last season, it was sink or swim time for Darnold, and ultimately he wasn't good enough. 

[slats]

7 minutes ago, jetophile said:

How about it's my defining moment, your defining moment, the defining moment of the kid pushing carts in the Price Chopper parking lot trying to make an honest buck. I'm sick of this chit. Parsing, parsing, parsing, it's like a mental illness that we all expend so much energy on this team. At games, from afar, in the news . . . um, so what are you doing on Draft Day? Asking for a friend. 

I’ll be sitting in my living room, a couple short blocks from the Caribbean Sea, frustratedly trying to find a live broadcast I can cast to my TV, lol. 

[oatmeal]

I was wrong I thought we had a small ball coward of a GM but he’s not. 
 

Respect 

[Jetsbb]

Strong inference from this article that the 49ers offered their 2nd round pick in this years draft after the Stafford trade. Also looks like the Jets liked Darnold better than Fields, Lance, and Jones.

[K_O_Brien]

1 minute ago, Jetsbb said:

Strong inference from this article that the 49ers offered their 2nd round pick in this years draft after the Stafford trade. Also looks like the Jets liked Darnold better than Fields, Lance, and Jones.

Schefter said similar. If the Jets were picking 3, Darnold would still be a Jet. 

[section314]

26 minutes ago, K_O_Brien said:

"It was a clear-cut top two quarterbacks for us. And there was a consensus".

Like other GMs, it sounds like Joe has a gap between his top two QBs and the rest.  

 

Absolutely. It also says to me that he thinks Darnold is better than everybody but his top two. That's huge too.

[Jet Nut]

30 minutes ago, K_O_Brien said:

"It was a clear-cut top two quarterbacks for us. And there was a consensus".

Like other GMs, it sounds like Joe has a gap between his top two QBs and the rest.  

 

Yeah but those crying about heel clicks and headbands disagree.

[Cyberjet]

Great article 

The bottom line is that Douglas knows what he has in Darnold. Great person above average maybe pretty good that you need to build a strong team around. Definitely something Douglas can work with to succeed.

Douglas KNOWS that he will get at least that much from the second round pick but with the potential for more.

That is why he made the trade and in doing so received 3 xtra draft picks knowing he has at least maintained the quality of the QB position and probably more

[Big_Slick]

This all sounds good. JD said he gave up better trade returns for Darnold so that he could watch Wilson throw in person, I wonder just how much we lost by letting the QB market dry up before accepting Carolina's offer.

Others have said Wilson is JD's defining moment but draft day might be almost as important. He must surround Wilson with talent or he'll look as bad as Sam.

[Adoni Beast]

54 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

You gotta love this. “I don’t give a sh*t what I look like in the media, I know what I’m doing & I did what I did.”

[K_O_Brien]

2 minutes ago, section314 said:

Absolutely. It also says to me that he thinks Darnold is better than everybody but his top two. That's huge too.

Yep, he mentions how he was worried that if he traded Sam, and then one of the top two guys failed a physical. the Jags would take the other, and we'd be "caught in a bad situation". From that, it sounds like the second tier of QBs were never under serious consideration. Which supports what 'footballguy' was saying on here. 

 

[football guy]

Love reading this. I mentioned it in another thread, but the team that made the official offer was the 49ers. 

[Adoni Beast]

Just now, football guy said:

Love reading this. I mentioned it in another thread, but the team that made the official offer was the 49ers. 

Whole article is pretty much everything you said along the way.

[British Jet]

That’s a good read. In JD we trust. 

[Joe W. Namath]

Douglas Saleh Wilson 

The holy trinity

[K_O_Brien]

4 minutes ago, Adoni Beast said:

Whole article is pretty much everything you said along the way.

Yep, more or less. 

Was only ever Wilson or Darnold - Still really admire Sam, never aggressively shopping him or the pick - Strive for consensus - Relative importance of pro days, compared to some other teams - Wait on physicals/measurements - probably other stuff. 

Nice work, @football guy

I'm off to buy my Rondale Moore jersey now. ?

[JustInFudge]

Just stoked we have someone in charge who seemingly has full control for once.  We'll see how it works out but I'm glad we at least seem to be going about it the right way.  Scary that seeing Wilson is person sealed the deal for him but they're clearly confident he's the guy so it is what is, ride or die with Zachapono.

[Jetsbb]

Quote

Any other year, we would’ve had all that information right when that offer was made,” Douglas says. “And in all likelihood, he would’ve been on that other team. But then again, who knows if that offer is made at that point in another year?”

San Francisco inquired in February and early March, and Washington and Denver had touched base (though their interest was tepid)

Very clear from these two statements that Darnold would be a 49er and Jets would have the 43rd pick in this years draft if Douglas was not so overly cautious. Maybe even a greater haul if he could have started a bidding war with the Panthers. If Douglas had three QB's evaluated over Darnold he probably would have pulled the trigger. Very surprising that Fields is thought of so poorly. Its very obvious he is better than Darnold. Jets very lucky the Watson plan fell through for the Panthers or Douglas would be looking like an idiot for waiting.

[Jetsbb]

Quote

“I don’t know how every team approaches a quarterback [evaluation], but I’ve always thought it was a golden rule—you don’t ever take a quarterback until you stand near or next to a guy and watch him throw the football,” Douglas says. “None of the top brass were able to get out to a BYU game this year. There were no all-star games, no combine. You could see Mac Jones at the Senior Bowl. But other than that, your only opportunity to stand there and watch them throw was at a pro day.

In this Quote Douglas admits he is taking Zach Wilson. LOL

[jetswinbaby!]

31 minutes ago, section314 said:

Absolutely. It also says to me that he thinks Darnold is better than everybody but his top two. That's huge too.

Years ago, a good friend of mine upgraded his stereo system, and gave his old one to his little brother...

He said to me, "Jetswinbaby!, if I didn't have a little brother, I think you are so great that I would have given my old stereo to you."...

If the Jets were picking 3rd, would JD have said,"We love Sam, but we just had him graded behind our top 3 QB prospects"...

Everything should be taken with a grain of salt...

[Jets723]

1 hour ago, K_O_Brien said:

"It was a clear-cut top two quarterbacks for us. And there was a consensus".

Like other GMs, it sounds like Joe has a gap between his top two QBs and the rest.  

 

Agreed.  Douglas even said that if the Jets didn’t have a top 2 pick they wouldn’t have traded Sam. 

[genot]

This is why i'm upset by this trade. We're finally doing, and are going to do in the near future, what we should have done 31/2 years ago. Because that never happened we we're almost forced by finances and draft position to jettison Sam. I of course will cheer our new QB, but i really will miss the potential joy of watching Sam turn it around here, after the misery of the last two years.

[Paradis]

5 minutes ago, Jetsbb said:

In this Quote Douglas admits he is taking Zach Wilson. LOL

I thought they made/fueled the trade with Rhule while watching Fields in person.