For a second straight season, the Jets finished 7-10.
While they ended the 15-game losing streak to the Patriots on Sunday with a win, they still finished with yet another disappointing year, finishing below .500 and missing the playoffs.
They knew it was going to be an uphill battle four plays in when they lost Aaron Rodgers.
The offense never materialized, while the defense did their best to carry the team.
The defense was a major reason this team was able to even get to seven wins.
The result in the end is that the same coaching staff is coming back next season in hopes that the return of Aaron Rodgers will finally end the longest major American sports league playoff drought.
Robert Saleh and his 18-33 record will get another shot.
Nathaniel Hackett will get another shot to run the offense with Rodgers hopefully healthy at quarterback.
There are no more mulligans after the 2024 season, though.
There will be plenty of pink slips given out in January 2025 in Florham Park, N.J., if the Jets don’t make the playoffs.
This is a critical offseason for Gang Green.
With how close they are to greatness, you could argue it’s the most important offseason in franchise history.
The Jets don’t need a ton of players, but they do need some pieces, especially on offense.
General manager Joe Douglas has a lot of pressure on him to get this right.
Douglas has to go get a No. 2 wide receiver to play on the other side of Garrett Wilson.
Whether that’s a trade for Davante Adams (with No. 17 now available) or free agents like Mike Evans or Tee Higgins, they need another playmaker for Rodgers.
Douglas has to fix this offensive line.
He needs, at the very least, two new starting offensive linemen.
Mekhi Becton likely won’t be brought back, but we’ll see.
They need to pick a spot on the right side, likely tackle for Alijah Vera-Tucker.
Joe Tippmann is your center.
So that means likely a right guard and a left tackle, one of those potentially coming with the 10th pick in the NFL draft.
The GM also needs to get a veteran backup QB and move on from Zach Wilson.
The Jets potentially have to go get a starting safety, another defensive lineman and then some depth pieces across the board.
They must also bring back kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Thomas Morstead.
For once, the Jets’ special teams unit was very strong with those two.
This isn’t a “Noah’s ark” offseason as my “Gang’s All Here” podcast co-host Brian Costello likes to say.
The Jets don’t need two of everything.
They have the integral pieces in place with an elite defense, a Hall-of-Fame QB and star playmakers in Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson.
Now they need the finishing pieces.
They also need a coaching staff that has been bad and even called out subtly by players to do some self-reflection and get better.
When Garrett Wilson says they need to make “better in-game adjustments,” that’s a testament to Hackett and offensive coaches Keith Carter and Todd Downing to do a better job.
Robert Saleh needs to be better.
He’s got to be a better in-game coach, especially with clock management.
This is a collective effort.
If all that falls into place and they can stay mostly healthy, the 2024 Jets could be a playoff team.
It could be a team to go on a deep playoff run.
The Jets are on the brink of being a major contender, but it’s still very early, and the pieces need to be put in place to make that possible.
Can Douglas, Saleh, Woody Johnson and the rest of the Jets staff get this ship turned around?
Let’s find out.
You can listen to the season finale of the “Gang’s All Here” podcast with Coz and I above, watch above or subscribe to listen below. Thanks to all the Jets fans for listening and watching the show all season. We’ll be back in March for free agency pods.
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Catch up on all episodes of “Gang’s All Here,” a New York Jets podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Coz and Jake on Twitter @BrianCoz and @JakeBrownRadio.